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graduates do?What do

SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING

ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT

SOCIAL SCIENCES

ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES

HND AND FOUNDATION DEGREES

Produced by:

October 2015

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1 Guide to using What do graduates do?2 Data pages explained – Survey response3 Data pages explained – Type of work 4 Employment review 6 How to make career decisions7 First degree graduates from all subjects data8 HND and Foundation degree data 9 What do graduates from HND and Foundation degrees do?

10 Science11 Biology 12 Chemistry 13 Physical and geographical sciences 14 Physics 15 Sports science

16 Mathematics, IT and computing17 Mathematics 18 Computer science and IT

19 Engineering and buildingmanagement20 Architecture and building21 Civil engineering 22 Electrical and electronic engineering23 Mechanical engineering

24 How can students maximise their time at university?

26 Social sciences27 Economics28 Geography29 Law30 Politics31 Psychology32 Sociology

33 Developing resilience for employment34 Employability skills and attributes

35 Arts, creative arts and humanities36 Fine arts37 Design38 English39 History40 Media studies41 Languages42 Performing arts

43 How to find graduate jobs44 Recruitment and selection methods

45 Business and administrativestudies46 Finance and accountancy47 Business and management48 Hospitality, leisure, tourism and transport49 Marketing

Welcome to What do graduates do? 2015This publication is the result of a close collaboration between Prospectsand the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS), onbehalf of the Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU).

It uses statistics drawn from the Destinations of Leavers from HigherEducation survey (DLHE) which is conducted by every university in theUK each year to try and establish what every graduate is doing sixmonths after graduation. The figures are compiled by HESA (the HigherEducation Statistics Agency) and are then used by Prospects to producethe tables and charts in this publication.

Commentary in the form of editorials is provided by higher educationcareers advisers who work on a day to day basis with students,graduates and employers, in collaboration with members of theProspects team. Overall editing and publishing is undertaken byProspects.

What do graduates do? 2015 was written by the following members of Prospectsand the Education Liaison Task Group (ELTG) of AGCAS

PROSPECTS www.prospects.ac.ukHannah Goldwyn-Simpkins EditorCharlie Ball Head of Higher Education Intelligence, responsible for the production of the statistics sourced from the DLHE survey

AGCAS www.agcas.org.uk Janice Montgomery Senior Careers Adviser, University of Aberdeen andChair of ELTGBarrie Grey �Careers Resources and Market Intelligence Coordinator,University of Leeds

Gareth Hill Careers Adviser, Swansea UniversityJane Howie Career Development Manager, University of LeicesterHelen Kempster Senior Careers Consultant, The Careers Group, Universityof LondonKirsty Palmer Head of Employability, London South Bank University

Special thanks toMatt Clarke & Pip Day, HESAChris Hicks, Prospects

ISSN 1759 0973 ISBN 978 1 84016 201 1

(C) Prospects/AGCAS 2015.Material from this publication may bereproduced for non-commercial purposes provided What do graduatesdo? is acknowledged. If material is required for commercial use, pleasecontact Prospects in the first instance.

Source of raw data: HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education2013/14. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences orconclusions derived from the data by third parties.

Comments or questions about this publication should be directed to:Hannah Goldwyn-Simpkins, Prospects, Prospects House, Booth StreetEast, Manchester, M13 9EP, [email protected] or Janice Montgomery,University of Aberdeen, Careers Service, The Hub, Elphinstone Road,Aberdeen AB24 3TU.

To obtain further copies go to:www.prospects.ac.uk/prospects_publications.htmCopies are priced at £14.95 including postage and packaging.

What’s inside

Endorsed by:the collective voice of graduate recruiters


The surveyGraduate destination surveys have beenconducted for years. They are the mostreliable mechanisms for establishinggraduate employment trends. The DLHEsurvey takes place six months aftergraduation, so this really is a snapshot of theimmediate outcomes of graduates. Ittherefore brings with it the nuances ofgraduate destinations – graduates will oftenbounce around jobs and won’t immediatelyfind the job they are really after. Some typesof jobs don’t fit into the six-month horizonand some professions take longer toestablish a career in. Although there aresome problems with an early survey date itis much easier to get a hold of graduatesrelatively soon after leaving university andit is important to get as many responses aspossible. With 267,735 responses to the2013/14 survey, DLHE covers so many peoplethat it builds up an authoritative picture ofwhat graduates do.

As job roles and employment patternsevolve, the DLHE survey needs to staycurrent. The survey underwent a majorchange in 2011, enabling graduates to recordseveral jobs or other activities, and askingthem to judge which activity is mostimportant. As a result of this amendment,we can only directly compare this year’sgraduates (2013/14) with the previous twoyears’ (2012/13 and 2011/12). This is importantto remember when you are using theinformation presented in this publication.Furthermore, computer science and ITsubjects were coded differently in the2012/13 dataset. This means that we can’tcompare data on computer science and ITgraduates to 2011/12.

How to read What do graduates do?In this publication you will find acombination of graphs and articles. We hopethis marriage of the numerical and textualwill have the effect of not only presentingthe data from the DLHE survey in theclearest way but also illuminating this datato draw out the nuances that are lived bythose it seeks to represent – the realgraduates who are entering the labourmarket. Using the data from the DLHEsurvey, we have written comment andadvice articles to offer some useful contextto the data. We open with our EmploymentReview giving insight into the graduatelabour market: what a graduate job is, wherewe have skills shortages and what we canlook towards in the future. We give abreakdown of the data of all first degreegraduates – the proportion who wereworking full time or were in further studyand what jobs graduates were most likely tobe in. We also take this overview perspectivefor foundation and HND graduates. You willthen find articles throughout thepublication that give an overview of thestudent employment journey, from makingdecisions about higher education to findinggraduate jobs.

The majority of this publication offers abreakdown of the destinations of UK-domiciled graduates from a range of subjectareas. Each of the six subject areas has auseful summary to get a sense of theactivities graduates were doing, e.g. working,studying, unemployed etc. As this can onlybe the start of the story, we offer usefulresources for further reading.

In all you will find 28 subject data pageswhich provide a breakdown of the

The Higher Education Statistics Agency’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education(DLHE) survey provides the most comprehensive picture of what graduates do. Thesurvey is genuinely comprehensive and is concerned with all kinds of people from allkinds of universities going into all kinds of jobs, all over the world.

What do graduates do? explores this data in great depth and detail. It helps you to makesense of the graduate labour market and further study destinations of first degreequalifiers and HND and Foundation degree qualifiers from 2013/14.

information from the DLHE survey,featuring; the survey response; outcomes ofgraduates; breakdown of further study toshow the types of courses they werestudying; examples of courses 2013/14graduates were studying; types of work thatgraduates in employment in the UK held;and examples of job titles and employersthat graduates were actually working for.More is explained about how theinformation is broken down in thispublication in ‘Data explained’ on thefollowing pages.

What DLHE doesn’t tell usThe DLHE data is comprehensive andinformative but we need to be clear aboutwhat it can actually tell us. DLHE is great forrepresenting a large majority of graduatesfrom all degrees but it is only an immediatesnapshot. While DLHE is perfectly placed toprovide answers to who, what, when, andwhere, the reasons why graduates makecareer choices are harder to glean from thedata. As students, parents, careers andemployability professionals and more, weneed to use the concrete facts to help answerwhy people have had these work andtraining outcomes and what might happenin the future. The DLHE survey cannotpredict with certainty what job or trainingopportunities will be available in three orfour years’ time, but it is our most reliableguide.

A wider perspectiveThe reality of higher education,employability and the graduate labourmarket is complex. What do graduates do?presents the facts, important context andbackground to help answer questions aboutprospects after graduation. Readers can usethis resource as one of many to developinformed study and work plans, but shouldnot rely on this information alone to makedecisions about choice of university course orcareer and further study after graduation.Making use of a broad range of sources willhelp decision makers to understand moreabout what it is like to work in the rolesidentified in this publication, and the furtherqualifications needed to enter a specificcareer.

GUIDE TO USING WHAT DO GRADUATES DO?

PLEASE NOTE – YOU CAN ONLY COMPARE THIS YEAR’S DATA TO 2011/2012 AND 2012/13 DATA

Due to rounding of percentages to one decimal place on all data pages and first destination tables in subject editorials, the percentagesmay not equal 100.0% when added together. All numbers used on these pages, where they refer to people, are rounded to the nearest fivein accordance with HESA’s methodology.

WHAT DO GRADUATES DO? 1

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OUTCOMES – are based on the activities that graduates who

responded said they were doing at the time of the survey

Working full time in the UKIncludes those listing their activity as working full time, including

self-employed/freelance, voluntary or other unpaid work, developing

a professional portfolio/creative practice or on an internship in the

UK

Working part time in the UKIncludes those listing their activity as working part time, including

self-employed/freelance, voluntary or other unpaid work, developing

a professional portfolio/creative practice or on an internship in the

UK

Working overseasIncludes those listing their activity as in full-time or part-time work,

including self-employed/freelance, voluntary or other unpaid work,

developing a professional portfolio/creative practice or on an

internship, overseas

Working and studyingIncludes those listing their main activity as working full time or part

time and their other activities included full-time or part-time study,

training or research and those listing their main activity as in full-

time or part-time study, training or research, and their other activities

included working full time or part time, in the UK or overseas

In further study, training or researchIncludes those listing their activity as either in full-time or part-time

study, training or research in the UK or overseas

Unemployed, including those due to start workIncludes those listing their activity as unemployed, and looking for

work or those due to start work in the next month

OtherIncludes those taking time out in order to travel or doing something

else

TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDY – provides abreakdown of the courses studied by graduates who were in furtherstudy, training or research, presents the percentages of graduates whowere in further study and were studying for a:

Doctorate (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil)Includes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘Higher degree, mainly by research (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil)’

Masters (e.g. MA, MSc)Includes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘Higher degree, mainly by taught course (e.g. MA, MSc)’

Postgraduate qualification in educationIncludes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘Postgraduate diploma or certificate (including PGCE)’ and werestudying a subject in education

Other postgraduate diplomasIncludes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘Postgraduate diploma or certificate’ but were not studying a subjectin education

Professional qualificationIncludes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘Professional qualification (e.g. Legal Practice Course, CharteredInstitute of Marketing)’

Other study, training or researchIncludes those who were in further study, training or research for a‘First degree (e.g. BA, BSc, MEng etc.)’, ‘Other diploma or certificate’,‘Other qualification’, ‘Not aiming for a formal qualification’ or‘Unknown’

DATA EXPLAINED – SURVEY RESPONSE

These ‘data explained’ pages will show you how we have derived our findings from HESA’s DLHE data, in the hope that anyonewill be able to recreate the figures should they wish.

EACH DATA PAGE IS SPLIT INTO TWO SECTIONS:

1. Survey response is at the top of the page and details the outcomes, type of course studied by those in further study, training orresearch and for each subject data page examples are provided of specific courses that 2013/14 graduates were studying at thetime of the survey.

2. Type of work – for those in employment in the UK, this details graduates who were employed in the type of work categories,developed by HECSU, as percentages of the total of graduates who were working in the UK. For each subject page examples areprovided of specific job titles and employers that 2013/14 graduates were working for at the time of the survey.

N.B. The HND and Foundation degree and first degree all subject data pages display different information in the tables to thoseon the subject data pages.

2 WHAT DO GRADUATES DO?


ManagersChief executive officers and senior officials/senior officers in protectiveservices/financial institution managers/advertising and marketing directors/managers and directors in transport & logistics, retail & wholesale/managers andproprietors in agriculture, hospitality and leisure, health and care services andother services/property, housing and estate managers/research and developmentmanagers/production and functional managers

Health professionalsMedical practitioners/nurses/midwives/paramedics/pharmacists/dentalpractitioners/ophthalmic opticians/medical radiographers/physiotherapists/occupational or speech and language therapists/podiatrists/other health associateprofessionals

Education professionalsTeaching professionals in higher education, further, secondary, primary andnursery education and special needs education/senior professionals in educationalestablishments/education advisers & school inspectors/other educationalprofessionals

Legal, social and welfare professionalsBarristers and judges/solicitors/legal associate professionals/other legalprofessionals/clinical, education and occupational psychologists/counsellors/probation officers/social workers/youth and community workers/child and earlyyears officers/housing officers/welfare and housing associate professionals/clergy

Science professionalsChemists/biologists/physicists/physiologists/geophysicists/geologists andmeteorologists/social and humanities scientists/bacteriologists, microbiologists/biochemists, medical scientists/other natural and social science professionals

Engineering and building professionalsCivil, mechanical, electrical, electronics engineers/design and developmentengineers/production and process engineers/architects, town planners andsurveyors/construction project managers and related professions

Information technology (IT) professionalsIT specialist managers/IT project and programme managers/IT business analysts,architects and systems designers/programmers and software developmentprofessionals/web design and development professionals/IT technicians/other ITand telecommunications professionals

Business, HR and finance professionalsActuaries, economists & statisticians/management consultants and businessanalysts/chartered and certified accountants/estimators, valuers andassessors/brokers/insurance underwriters/finance and investment analysts andadvisers/taxation experts/financial and accounting managers and technicians/human resources and industrial relations officers/vocational and industrialtrainers and instructors

Marketing, PR and sales professionalsPublic relations (PR) professionals/buyers and procurement officers/business salesexecutives/marketing associate professionals/estate agents and auctioneers/salesaccounts & business development managers/conference & exhibition managersand organisers

Arts, design and media professionalsJournalists/artists/authors, writers and translators/actors, entertainers andpresenters/dancers and choreographers/musicians/arts officers, producers anddirectors/photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators/graphic designers/commercial artists/interior designers/industrial designers/textile, clothing, furniture and jewellery designers/other design occupations/clothing advisers, consultants

Other professionals, associate professionals and techniciansConservation & environment professionals/media and other researchers/librarians, archivists and curators/quality control and regulatory professionals/laboratory technicians/science, engineering and production technicians/draughtspersons and related architectural technicians/protective serviceoccupations/sports and fitness occupations/air craft controllers and aircraft pilotand flight engineers/careers advisers and vocational guidance specialists/publicservices professionals

Childcare, health and education occupationsNursery nurses and assistants/childminders/playworkers/teaching assistants/educational support assistants/animal care and control occupations/nursingauxiliaries and assistants/dental nurses/care workers and home carers/othercaring personal services

Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupationsNational and local government administrators/book-keepers, payroll managersand wages clerks/bank and post-office clerks/other financial administrators/records clerks and assistants/pensions and insurance clerks and assistants/stockcontrol and transport and distribution clerks and assistants/library clerks andassistants/human resources administrators/sales administrators/officemanagers/medical, legal and other secretaries/personal assistants/receptionists

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staffSales supervisors/sales and retail assistants/retail cashiers and check-outoperators/customer service managers and supervisors/kitchen and cateringassistants/waiters and waitresses/bar staff/leisure and theme park attendants

Other occupationsFarmers/gardeners & landscapers/groundsmen & greenkeepers/metal machining,fitting and instrument making trades/vehicle trades/electrical and electronictrades/plumbers, carpenters & joiners/bricklayers/ painters and decorators/textileand garment trades/printers/food preparation occupations/catering & barmanagers/florists/glass, ceramics & furniture makers/sports and leisureassistants/travel agents/air and rail travel assistants/hairdressers andbeauticians/housekeepers/ pharmacy and other dispensing assistants/salesrelated occupations/merchandisers and window dressers/call and contact centreoccupations/market research interviewers/process, plant and machineoperatives/assemblers and routine operatives/construction operatives/roadtransport drivers/other drivers and transport operatives/farm and forestryworkers/postal workers and mail sorters/cleaners & domestics/securityguards/other elementary occupations

Unknown occupationsGraduates who indicated that they were in employment in the UK but theoccupational information provided was inadequate for coding purposes

DATA EXPLAINED – TYPE OF WORK

Respondents to the DLHE survey are asked to give their main job title and a brief description of their role. This information is usedto derive their Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2010 (DLHE)). These SOC 2010 (DLHE) codes are used to calculate the typeof work categories used in What do graduates do?. SOC 2010 (DLHE) was only introduced for the 2011/12 survey and cannot becompared with data prior to 2011/12.

The Standard Occupational Classifications 2010 (DLHE) which are under each type of work category are described below.


To see the full list of SOC 2010 (DLHE) codes in each type of work category, go to the What do graduates do? page at www.hecsu.ac.uk


EMPLOYMENT REVIEW

through 2014. This is supported by data fromthe Government’s Annual Population surveyshowing that the economy added 309,700new jobs at professional level in 2014.1 This isbefore any consideration on the number ofjobs taken by graduates who replacedprevious employees. The evidence suggeststhat the jobs market for graduates is well onthe road to recovery.

Graduates from part-time courses had higheremployment rates and lower unemploymentand further study rates than their full-timecounterparts but it was the graduates fromfull-time courses whose employment andunemployment figures improved the mostbetween 2012/13 and 2013/14. Outcomes forthe two groups became closer.2

Types of work199,810 UK-domiciled graduates from 2013/14were in work in the UK six months aftergraduation, the largest number on record.Four professions saw an increase of 500 ormore graduate entrants last year – businessproject workers, HR and recruitmentprofessionals, nurses and marketers. All ofthese roles require a degree. The market as awhole saw growth in the number of entrantsto jobs at professional level, and mostprofessions saw increased entry. The largestfalls in numbers of graduate entrants were insales and retail roles, and in routine officework. These positions do not usually requirea degree, although many office workersreported their employer asking for a highereducation qualification. Another fall innumbers was found in medicalpractitioners – a concern considering thatdata from the UK Commission forEmployment and Skills (UKCES) EmployerSkills Survey suggests that there was ashortage of qualified medical practitioners.3

Besides medical practitioners, other rolesseeing a reduction in graduate entrantsincluded architecture, quantity surveying,

The graduate jobs market saw significantimprovement in late 2014 and the early partof 2015. More graduates found work thanever before, more of that work was of goodquality and unemployment rates were downto levels last seen before the economicdownturn began in 2008. Demand forgraduates has grown to the extent thatemployers report shortages in some areasbut is this improvement set to continue?

The picture for 2013/14 graduatesThe employment rate for graduates after sixmonths was up on the previous year: 76.6%of graduates were working or combiningwork and study, against 75.6% in 2012/13.Unemployment fell a full percentage point,from 7.3% for 2012/13 graduates to 6.3% thisyear. And the majority of graduates whowere in work, 68.2%, were in professional-level employment, up nearly two percentagepoints from 66.3% the year before.

In all, 199,810 UK domiciled graduates from2013/14 were known to be in work in the UKsix months after graduation, up by 11,225from 2012/13. 135,980 graduates were knownto be in professional employment – up by11,280 on the previous year, meaning that thenumber of graduates entering jobs belowprofessional level fell in both percentage andabsolute terms.

The basic figures demonstrate thatconditions for new graduates improved

NUMBERSGRADUATING(SURVEY

RESPONDENTS) IN EMPLOYMENT IN FURTHER STUDYWORKING ANDSTUDYING

UNEMPLOYED,(INCLUDING THOSEDUE TO START

WORK) OTHER

FULL-TIME FIRST DEGREE

PART-TIME FIRST DEGREE

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE GRADUATES FROM 2013/14 ON FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME COURSES, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

245,620 70.8% 12.8% 5.3% 6.5% 4.6%22,115 75.2% 5.2% 7.3% 4.3% 8.0%267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE BALL

and geology – and not all of these falls can beattributed to lack of employer demand, assurveying is another area with evidence ofshortage.

The average salary for a graduate from the2013/14 cohort working full time after sixmonths was £20,637. Finance managers andsenior professionals, officers in the ArmedForces, engineers, health professionals(which includes dentists, doctors andpharmacists), pilots, health service managersand production managers all averaged over£25,000 as a starting salary.

A graduate job?A lively debate continues over exactly what a‘graduate job’ is, or what ‘graduate skills’ are.This debate has been put into clearer focusby Government proposals for a TeachingExcellence Framework (TEF) to assess thequality of university teaching. An importantproposed cornerstone of the TEF is to be asystem of assessing whether students getgood quality jobs. At present, there is no clearconclusion as to what a ‘graduate job’ reallyis or how to measure it properly – is it a jobwhere employers ask for a degree? Is it a jobwhere degree holders use the skills in adegree? Is it merely a job done by a graduate?The solution currently used in highereducation is to use a classification system forjobs and to class all those falling under the‘professional’ banner as being ‘graduatelevel’. The current system works reasonablywell but has a number of important issues.Some jobs – such as shopkeeping – areclassed as being ‘professional’ when a degreeis unlikely to be needed for them, whilstothers, such as financial office work orveterinary nursing, are not considered‘graduate level’ when a degree is usually oralways required.

There are two simple ways of usingdestination data to examine if a job requires



1. Data from the Annual Population Survey and analysed using NOMIS,

www.nomisweb.co.uk/. ‘Professional level’ jobs are those that fall under

Standard Occupational Classifications 1 to 3 2. The rest of this report will

examine full-time and part-time graduates together 3. Data from UKCES

Employer Skills Survey 2013. New data will be released in autumn 2015

4. Sample size: 199,505 respondents. Data comes from 2013/14 DLHE

5. Sample size: 174,530 respondents. Data comes from 2013/14 DLHE

6. Rigby, S. (2014). Postgraduate Applicants Need More Clarity to Make

Good Decisions. Graduate Market Trends, Manchester: HECSU, 4-7

7. Bank of England (2015). Agents' Summary of Business Conditions - July

2015. www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/agentssummary/

2015/jul.aspx (Accessed August 2015) 8. Bank of England (2015). Agents'

Summary of Business Conditions - August 2015. www.bankofengland.co.uk/

publications/Pages/agentssummary/2015/aug.aspx (Accessed August 2015)

9.UKCES (2013) Employer Skills Survey,www.gov.uk/government/

publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2013 10. AGR (2015) Winter

survey, www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-

2013

REFERENCES

a degree or not. The first is using jobsclassified as ‘professional level’, as mentionedabove. This gives us a figure of 68.2% ofemployed graduates in professionalemployment.4 The second way is to askgraduates if they felt that they needed theirdegree to get the job that they were in –63.6% of employed graduate respondents tothat question felt that their degree wasrequired or conferred an advantage ingetting employment.5 Although it is difficultto find an exact figure for the proportion ofgraduates who were in roles that needed adegree, it is certainly a comfortable majorityof graduates – and this was only six monthsafter leaving university. With the jobsmarket for graduates better than it has beenfor some time, these figures are set toimprove.

Further studyThe proportion of graduates going intopostgraduate study on completion of theirfirst degree tends to fall when the economyimproves,6 and the experience of the 2013/14cohort was no exception. 17.6% of first-degreegraduates from 2013/14 were either studyingsolely or taking a course as well as workingafter six months, down from 18%. Nearly half(46.2%) took a taught Masters qualificationstraight after graduating, with the mostpopular subjects being psychology,management, sports science, social work,business and English literature. Another18.6% of those taking a further qualificationwent into teacher training, and 11.9%embarked on a doctorate, with chemistry,physics, maths, biology and computing beingthe most common options. Science subjectsare usually favoured at doctoral level asmany careers in science, particularly inresearch and development at universities orin business, require a doctorate to enter.

Where are the jobs?An important consideration for many would-be graduate employees is, ‘where will Iwork?’ Jobs were spread around the country,but there were concentrated pockets in thepopulous areas of the south east and in thelarger cities. Unsurprisingly, London is by farthe most common location for graduates tofind their first job. 43,850 graduates from2013/14 are known to have started theircareer in the capital – 21.3% of all workinggraduates. This is an important proportion ofthe graduate labour market, but a long way

from the majority of graduates. The south-east and the north-west also employed morethan 10% of working graduates each. Outsideof London, the cities of Birmingham,Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh,Oxford, Liverpool, Bristol, Cambridge,Sheffield and Belfast, and the regions ofSurrey, Kent, Hertfordshire, Hampshire,Lancashire and Essex all employed morethan 2,000 graduates from the 2013/14cohort. To get a job, graduates may not haveto move to London but they may need toconsider working in one of the larger cities.

What is in demand?As the economy continues to recover fromrecession, graduate skills are in greaterdemand. In July 2015, the Bank of Englandcommented on the previous month’s labourmarket, saying:

Recruitment difficulties had edged up andwere at levels last seen during 2007, havingbroadened recently across a wide range ofskills, levels of experience and occupations. Forexample, reports of a scarcity of experiencedmiddle and senior managers had becomefairly common ... In consequence ...apprenticeship, graduate and school-leaverrecruitment programmes had been eithermaintained or increased.7

In August, the Bank of England also stated:

Shortages were pronounced in IT, engineering,construction trades and property-relatedskills, professional services, HGV drivers, andmiddle/senior management.8

The UK Commission for Employment andSkills (UKCES) Employer Skills Surveyexamines those vacancies that employersfound difficult to fill due to lack of applicantsor skills. It found that a number of jobs, suchas nursing, production engineering, software

development and programming, financialand business analysis and consultancy andrecruitment roles saw widespreadshortages.9 There were also shortages in civil,mechanical and design engineering, in webdesign and IT project management, inmedicine and in procurement and thatdepending on industry and location,employers found that other professions suchas marketing and retail management couldbe hard to recruit into. The Association ofGraduate Recruiters (AGR), the industry bodyfor employers of graduates, found that onaverage 5.4% of their member’s vacancies in2014 were not filled, rising to 11.1% for energyand utility vacancies and 11.8% f0r IT andcomputing vacancies.10 The evidence isstrong: there are shortages of graduates anda demand for graduates in many sectors ofthe economy.

The future outlookThe outlook for graduates in 2015 is as goodas it has been since 2007, before therecession. Recent indicators suggest that therate of improvement may be slowing, butthere are few signs that the economy isabout to enter another downturn and so wecan be reasonably confident that the nextyear or two will see a period in which thejobs market for graduates will be relativelygood. Demand for graduates is likely to stayhigh, there will be sectors which grow soquickly or have such a high need forgraduates that they may find it difficult tofill all their available roles, most graduateswill get jobs quickly, and most of those jobswill require a degree. Over the long term thestory of the jobs market is one of constantchange. New companies rise, using newtechnologies and creating new jobs. Otherjobs change dramatically or disappear. Auniversity education remains the best andmost effective way to equip workers with theskills to adapt to the rapid technological andeconomic change that will shape theworkplace of the future.



HOW TO MAKE CAREER DECISIONS

Each of us makes hundreds of decisionsevery day. Some decisions are moreimportant than others and choices aboutcareers and the future can carry a lot ofweight. For the big decisions in life, theability to question motivations and testplans can help students and graduates toensure they make the best decision thatsuits them.

This article will give an overview of careerdecision-making theory and explore whatan effective decision-making process lookslike, in the hope that students can makesense of their own practices and feel fulfilledin the choices they make.

Styles of decision-makingThere are several models of decision-making.1 While no one style of decision-making is better than any other, certainmodels suit certain people.

The evaluative decision makerwill gothrough a process of self-reflection. This mayseem like indecision but it will eventuallylead to developed self-awareness and theidentification of long term career goals.

The strategic decision maker has more ofan analytical style. They will weigh up thepros and cons of a situation to reach a fixedsolution. The strategic thinker believes thatthey construct their own career path andwill set plans to achieve their goal.

The aspirational decision makerwillpursue provisional objectives that arepractical in life’s wider commitments. Theseindividuals will see provisional work asplaying a part in their distant careeraspirations.

The opportunistic decision makerwill seizeopportunities when they present

themselves. While their career plans mayseem unclear, they have the ability to copewith uncertainty and make the most ofsituations.

It can be helpful for students and graduatesto reflect on their own decision-making styleand consider whether they are happy tomake future decisions in the same way.Alternatively, people can choose to developdecision-making elements they may nothave previously used. A student may write apros and cons list of their university choicesconsidering the importance of location,institution reputation and the destination ofgraduates from their course. As a graduatethey may choose to recognise that careersare often formed by seizing unexpectedopportunities and they can make the mostof networking in order to pick upopportunities when they arise.

The decision-making processUnderstanding how job seekers makedecisions can help them strategically intheir long-term career path. But when itcomes to a specific choice about universityor a job, we can encourage students torecognise what an effective decision makingprocess looks and feels like. Following thisfour-step process can help the student orgraduate to come to a decision that suitsthem.2

1. Start with wide options. Students shouldtake time to consider all of the optionsavailable to them, including those thathad not previously been considered.Options can include work, study,volunteering, travelling, internships etc.The trick here is to be open-minded andpush students to consider all the optionsavailable to them.

2. From here it is likely that students willrecognise that they have already madeassumptions about the path they wish totake. This is an important part of theprocess and gives them an opportunity toreality-test those assumptions. Forexample, it is common to assume thatstudying a certain degree subject willincrease the chances of getting a job inthat field. However, this is not always thecase; over the past three years physicsgraduates have been more likely to workin IT and business positions than in

scientific roles.3 To reality-testassumptions students must find evidenceto support their decision-making. Forexample, asking admissions tutors aboutthe destinations of their graduates orusing this publication to discover thedirection that a degree subject is likely tolead.

3. Once all the options have been taken intoconsideration and any assumptions havebeen tested, the student can make anevidence-based decision and they can beconfident in their views. From here thedecision maker needs to take a step back.Attaining distance, such as consideringhow one might feel about this decision inthree year’s time, can prevent decisionsbeing made on short-term emotionalreasoning.

4. Finally, it is important for students andgraduates to recognise that careerdecision-making can be a complexprocess. There may be times when theymake an incorrect decision and at thispoint it is important to be flexible and beprepared to consider other options.

Students and graduates need not feel alonewhen making decisions. There are a varietyof people who can offer advice and support:careers advisers can help weigh up anindividual’s options, admissions tutors cangive insight into destinations of graduates,current employees can paint a picture ofwhat the work is like, teachers and tutorsmay be able to offer guidance and friendsand family can be supportive.

No-one is born a good decision maker. Weeach develop our skills in this area over time,learning from previous decisions we havemade. The future can be greatly affected bythe career choices we make, sounderstanding decision-making styles andpractising decision-making strategies willenable students and graduates to be morefulfilled in the long-term.

WRITTEN BY GARETH HILL


1. Bimrose, J. and Barnes, S-A. (2007). Styles of career decision-making,

Australian Journal of Career Development, 16:2, 20-29 2. Using the ‘WRAP’

method found in Heath, C, and Heath, D. (2014) Decisive: How to make

better choices in life and work. Random House Books: London 3. Taken

from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2011/12,

2012/13 and 2013/14, based on UK domiciled first degree graduates. For

more information on the destinations of physics graduates see page 10 of

this publication

REFERENCES


ALL SUBJECTS 7

FEMALE: 116,285 • MALE: 83,510 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 199,810

TOP TEN PROFESSIONAL AND MANAGERIAL JOBS HELD BY FIRST DEGREE GRADUATES IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK% as total of first degree graduates who were employed in professional and managerial jobs in the UK

FIRST DEGREE GRADUATES FROM ALL SUBJECTS 2014SURVEY RESPONSE: 79.2% • FEMALE: 152,785 • MALE: 114,930 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 267,735 • ALL GRADUATES: 338,230

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.5%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.8%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%

Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.6%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Legal, social and welfare professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%

Masters (e.g. MA, MSc) 46.2%

Postgraduate qualification in education 20.6% Doctorate (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil) 11.9% Other study, training or research 9.1% Other postgraduate diplomas 6.8% Professional qualification 5.5%

Total number of graduates in further study 32,525

TYPE OF WORK FOR THOSE IN EMPLOYMENTGraduates who were in employment either full-time, part-time or working and studying in the UK

TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDY

OUTCOMES SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

Nurses 5.9%

Marketing associate professionals 3.1%

Medical practitioners 3.0%

Primary and nursery education teaching professionals 2.9%

Business and related associate professionals n.e.c. 1.8%

Human resources and industrial relations officers 1.7%

Programmers and software development professionals 1.6%

Finance and investment analysts and advisers 1.3%

Teaching and other educational professionals n.e.c. 1.3%

Chartered and certified accountants 1.2%



HND AND FOUNDATION DEGREE GRADUATES FROM 2014

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.0%Studying for a first degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.2%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.3%Working part-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Others in further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%

Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.7%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.4%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1%Retail, Catering, Waiting and Bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.4%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4%Arts, Design and Media Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

Academic studies in education 18.1%

Social work 8.3%

Business studies 5.0%

Sport and exercise science 4.3%

Nursing 4.1%

Business studies 20.9%

Hospitality, leisure, sport, tourism and transport 10.4%

General engineering 5.4%

Building 5.1%

Electronic and electrical engineering 4.8%


TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR SUBJECTS STUDIED BYFOUNDATION DEGREE QUALIFIERS FROM 2013/14% AS TOTAL NUMBER OF FOUNDATION DEGREE QUALIFIERS

TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR SUBJECTS STUDIED BYHND QUALIFIERS FROM 2013/14 % AS TOTAL NUMBER OF HND QUALIFIERS


SURVEY RESPONSE: 76.5% • FEMALE: 8,355• MALE: 5,845 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 14,200 • ALL GRADUATES: 18,560

TOP TEN OCCUPATIONS HELD BY 2013/14 HND AND FOUNDATION DEGREE GRADUATES IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION% as total of HND and Foundation degree graduates in employment in the UK

Teaching assistants 8.2%

Sales and retail assistants 4.9%

Nursery nurses and assistants 4.3%

Private and specialist teaching professionals and tutors 3.5%

Paramedics 3.4%

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants 3.1%

Police officers (sergeant and below) 2.1%

Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified 2.0%

Educational support assistants 1.9%Primary and nursery education teaching professionals 1.7%

8 HND AND FOUNDATION DEGREE



completing in the 2013-14 cohort. Such adecline corresponds with the increasing costof such study. We can expect this trend tocontinue as next year’s DLHE respondentswill be the first to pay higher tuition fees,which averages £9,000 per year inuniversities and over £5,000 per year infurther education colleges.6 The high cost ofeducation is a considerable drawback forindividuals and for employers paying fortheir employees to attend. However, the lowlevels of unemployment suggest that afoundation degree or a higher nationaldiploma remains good value for money.

REFERENCES1. For more information see www.delni.gov.uk/employer-foundation-

leaflet.pdf and www.delni.gov.uk/student-foundation-leaflet.pdf 2. Soon to

be the new national exams 3. Self-employed status in the over forties age

group make up 8.6% of the total in employment as opposed to 4.5% of

under 24 year olds. Figures are drawn from information supplied by HESA

from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2013/14

4. ‘Unemployed’ includes graduates who said they were unemployed or

were due to start a job within a month of the survey data 5. 41% studied

their HND or foundation degree part time, compared to 8% of first-degree

students in the 2013/14 cohort 6. This cohort was the last year to pay

£3,000 tuition fees per year

Self-employmentOver 6% of respondents from HND orfoundation degrees listed themselves as self-employed or starting their own business sixmonths after graduation. This was slightlyhigher than the average for all students(4.8% in 2013/14). The higher proportion ofself-employed graduates from HND orfoundation degrees reflects thedemographic of this cohort of students:37.4% of these graduates were over 30 yearsold and thus statistically more inclined tostart up their own business.3 Also, thevocational nature of these qualificationsprovides practical skills that are marketableto the public.

UnemploymentThe unemployment rate was very low forthis group of graduates with 2.2%unemployed six months after completingtheir studies (compared to 6.3% across allfirst degree graduates).4 This is due, in part,to the career-orientated nature of thefoundation degree subjects, which preparedstudents well for work. It is worth notingthat many students study part time andwere employed by the same employerbefore, during and after their studies.5 Thelow unemployment figure was also assistedby the high proportion of foundation degreegraduates continuing to full degree-levelstudy.

Further studyThe further study rate was particularly highfor graduates from foundation degrees andHND courses, with 52.5% choosing to go onto further study. The tendency to studyeducation-related subjects at foundationlevel (16% of all students) continued atdegree level, with 11% of those in furtherstudy choosing academic studies ineducation or nursery education. Businessdisciplines were also a popular course choice(6.7%), as was computing science (3.4%).Graduates progressed from foundationdegrees into either first year of a full degreeor occasionally to second year depending onthe subject area and the recruitment policiesof individual universities.

Future developmentsSince reaching a high point in 2012-13, with27,470 graduates, the number of peoplegraduating from a HND or foundationdegree has been declining with 18,560

Foundation degrees combine academic andwork-related learning. They often providean entry point into full higher educationdegrees although they are stand-alonequalifications in their own right. Thesequalifications are particularly useful forschool leavers looking for vocationaltraining; for employers wishing to increasethe knowledge of their employees throughpart-time study; or for those returning towork after an absence or looking to reskill.1

Foundation degrees are orientated towardsvocational subjects such as business, health,engineering, medical science and law; andoften employers will have an input intocourse design to ensure their ongoingrelevance to the marketplace. To gain entryonto a foundation degree, more emphasis isplaced on the accreditation of PriorExperiential Learning (APEL) and far less onA-levels or Scottish Higher Qualifications.2

EmploymentThe vocational nature of these degreeswould explain the 40% of graduates fromhigher national diplomas (HND) andfoundation degrees that went straight intoemployment after graduation. This cohortwas most likely to go into positions such asteaching assistants, nursery nurses,paramedics and engineering technicians. Ofthose working six months after completingtheir foundation degree or HND, nearly fourin ten were employed as health or educationprofessionals. Over 5% became engineeringor building professionals and a further 5%worked in business-related positions: in HR,finance, marketing and media. Nearly 10%were working in retail and catering, thisincluded those who went on to undertake abachelor’s degree and were working tosupport their studies (over 20% of the total).A considerable proportion of those working(82.6%) were on permanent or fixed-termcontracts lasting longer than 12 months andless than 4% were on short term contracts.

WHAT DO GRADUATES FROM HND AND FOUNDATION DEGREES DO?WRITTEN BY JANICE MONTGOMERY


average), it was sports science graduateswho had the highest rate of employment inthis cluster (49.4% working full time whichwas still lower than average). Althoughemployment rates across the sciences werelower than average, there is a more positivelonger-term outlook for those studyingscience subjects.

Typical jobs for science graduatesChemistry graduates commonly entered‘traditional science roles’ such as labtechnicians (9.1%) and research/development chemists (4.6%). The picturewas more mixed for biology graduates whowere most likely to begin work in the retailor the catering industry (9.8% and 3.2%respectively) or as lab technicians (6.9%) andbiochemists/medical scientists (3.2%). Thosestudying physical and geographical sciencesprogressed into a wide variety of rolesincluding sales (9.3%), business (4.4%) andenvironment professions (4.2%). Physicsgraduates were most likely to undertakeroles in software development (10.1%),business (4.2%) and engineering (3.8%).

SalariesThe 2013/14 data indicated a wide range ofstarting salaries for science graduates in theUK. Physics graduates were the highest paidwithin this sector with average salaries

Science is a dynamic and vibrant sector ofthe UK economy with a variety of jobopportunities but graduates from scientificdegrees don’t necessarily work in this sector.Science graduates start their working livesin business, finance, human resources (HR),engineering, information technology (IT),education, scientific research anddevelopment, and manufacturing andenergy.

Destinations of science graduatesThe Destination of Leavers from HigherEducation survey 2013/14 indicated that theunemployment rates of graduates frombiology (8.0%), chemistry (7.4%) and physics(8.2%) were slightly higher than the averageof all subjects (6.3%). While physicsgraduates were least likely to progress intofull-time work (38.2% compared to 56.5% on


RESPONDENTS) IN EMPLOYMENTIN FURTHERSTUDY

WORKING & STUDYING

UNEMPLOYED,(INCLUDING THOSE

DUE TO START WORK) OTHER

BIOLOGY

CHEMISTRY

PHYSICAL &GEOGRAPHICALSCIENCES

PHYSICS

SPORTS SCIENCE

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE SCIENCE GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

4,550 55.0% 25.2% 5.8% 8.0% 6.0%3,005 52.7% 31.1% 4.3% 7.4% 4.5%

3,050 60.8% 19.8% 5.9% 6.1% 7.4%

2,295 46.1% 34.7% 5.8% 8.2% 5.3%8,630 69.5% 13.9% 7.6% 4.3% 4.7%267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

SCIENCE OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY GARETH HILL

The Royal Society for Chemistry –www.rsc.org/careersInstitute of Physics –www.iop.org Society of Biology –www.societyofbiology.org Society of Experimental Biology –www.sebiology.org The Sector Skills Council for land-based and environmental industries –www.lantra.co.uk The British Association of Sports and Exercises Sciences –www.bases.org.uk AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

ranging from £19,900 to £28,900. Sportsscience graduates were the lowest paid inthis cluster, with average salaries within the£13,800 to £20,100 range.

Further studyA high proportion of physics (34.7%),chemistry (31.1%) and biology (25.2%)graduates went on to a postgraduate degreefollowing their undergraduate course. Thiscompares with the average of 12.1% for allsubjects. Of those progressing to furtherstudy a high percentage in chemistry andphysics studied at doctorate level, which isdue to the fact that a doctorate is oftenrequired for roles in scientific research anddevelopment. Undertaking a postgraduatequalification in education was also apopular choice for graduates of sportsscience (39.3% of those in further study) andphysical and geographical sciences (25.0% ofthose in further study).

Future outlookMany different careers are based on STEMskills. Employers value people with STEMqualifications and skills, not just for theirspecific knowledge but also for theirtransferrable analytical, problem solvingand creative skills. Almost one third ofbusinesses are anticipating difficultyrecruiting STEM graduates and it ispredicted that 58% of all new jobs will beSTEM related. Examples of growth areas forSTEM opportunities includenanotechnology, space technology and civiland water engineering. These predictionsindicate good long-term employabilityprospects for science graduates.

REFERENCES1. UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2008). Working Futures

2007-17, www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/wf/evidence-report-2-

working-futures-2007-2017.pdf (Accessed August 2015)

RESOURCES

Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/1410 SCIENCE



Science technician – a high school

Scientific officer – a banknote printers

Research scientist – a research centre

Biomedical scientist – a hospital

Business analyst – an energy company

Analyst – a finance company

Assistant tax advisor – Ernst & Young LLP

Real estate tax assistant – Deloitte

Lab analyst – Intertek

Pharmaceutical analyst – a laboratory

Supervisor – a retail store

Staff trainer – McDonalds

EXAMPLES OF 2014 BIOLOGY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)

SCIENCE

BIOLOGY GRADUATES FROM 2014SURVEY RESPONSE: 80.8% • FEMALE: 2,650 • MALE: 1,900 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 4,550 • ALL GRADUATES: 5,630

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.3%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.2%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%


Doctorate (e.g. PhD, DPhil, MPhil) 21.4%

Postgraduate qualification in education 11.7%

Other study, training or research 8.6%

Other postgraduate diplomas 4.1%

Professional qualification 1.2%



TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMRes Physiology

MSc Clinical Science

MSc Exercise and NutritionScience

PGCE Further Education and

Training (FET)

PGCE Secondary Education

EXAMPLES OF COURSES STUDIED

SCIENCE 11



Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.6%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.1%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%

Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.4%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.6%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SCIENCE

CHEMISTRY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Lab Analyst – Intertek

Pharmaceutical Analyst – a laboratory

R&D technologist – a manufacturers

Research Assistant – a Chartered Surveyors

Analyst – a finance company

Assistant tax advisor – Ernst & Young LLP

Real estate tax – Deloitte

Associate – Deloitte

Visual merchandiser – Debenhams

Bar staff – a restaurant chain







Total number of graduates in further study 935

EXAMPLES OF 2014 CHEMISTRY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Biotechnology

PGCE

MPhil/PhD Detection of BiologicalWarfare Agents

PhD Chemistry

MPhil/PhD Forensic andInvestigative Science

SURVEY RESPONSE: 84.8% • FEMALE: 1,255 • MALE: 1,750 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 3,005 • ALL GRADUATES: 3,540

12 SCIENCE


FEMALE: 720 • MALE: 940 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 1,665



SCIENCE 13

FEMALE: 930• MALE: 1,020 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 1,950

Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.4%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.8%Working part-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.6%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.4%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Legal, social and welfare professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Information technology professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%

SCIENCE

PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES GRADUATES FROM 2014

Assistant estimator – a construction company

Catastrophe analyst – an insurance company

Financial assistant – a county council

Global headhunter – a recruitment agency

Graduate trainee – Sainsbury's

Customer service assistant –M&S

Child minder – self-employed

Junior patent officer – a legal firm

Snow reporter – a sports club








EXAMPLES OF 2014 PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)

TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYCertificate of Police Knowledge

Chartered Institute of Housing-Level 4

MA Town and regional planning

MBA Construction and real estate

MSc Environmental businessmanagement

MSc Environmental management

MSc Geological andenvironmental hazards

MSc Planning

MSc Surveying landenvironmental management

PGCE Primary education

PGCE Secondary geography






14 SCIENCE

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.2%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.7%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Working overseas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%

Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.9%Information technology professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.9%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Legal, social and wefare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SCIENCE

PHYSICS GRADUATES FROM 2014

RAF officer – Royal Air Force

Radiology assistant – a hospital

Trainee patent attorney – a law firm

Graduate research scientist – British Telecom

Engineer – Rolls Royce

Development engineer – Rolls-Royce

Nuclear engineer – BAE Systems

.net development consultant – Aviva

Analyst – Accenture

Analyst – an electricity and gas supplier

Tax professional – HMRC

Security analyst – an IT company

Business analyst – an outsourcing firm

Market analyst – a trade journal

Professional sports player – a rugby club

Purchasing assistant – a furniture retailer








EXAMPLES OF 2014 PHYSICS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc/MRes Physics

MPhil/PhD Astrophysics

PGCE Secondary physics

MPhil/PhD Astrophysics

SURVEY RESPONSE: 84.3% • FEMALE: 495 • MALE: 1,800 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 2,295 • ALL GRADUATES: 2,720


FEMALE: 255 • MALE: 905• TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 1,160



SCIENCE 15

Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.4%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%

Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.5%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.5%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.5%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5%Information technology professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5%Engineering and building professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SCIENCE

SPORTS SCIENCE GRADUATES FROM 2014

Trainee manager – fashion retailer

Research assistant – a university

Sample technician – Tata Steel

Recruitment consultant – a recruitment firm

Personal trainer – self-employed

Sports coach – a gymnastics club

Sports coach – a rugby club

Fitness trainer – self-employed

Sport scientist – a football club

Sports rehabilitator – a rugby club

Gymnastics coach – a council

Development officer – a rugby union

Chef – Pizza Hut

Retail supervisor – a sports retailer

Food assistant – Mcdonalds

Sales assistant – Next

Senior sales assistant – Debenhams








EXAMPLES OF 2014 SPORTS SCIENCE GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Biomechanics

MSc Sport Physiology

MRES Sport and exercise Science

MSc Strength Conditioning

PGDE Secondary Teaching

MSc in Physical Education

Masters by research

MSc Clinical Physiology

PGCE primary education

SURVEY RESPONSE: 79.1% • FEMALE: 2,925 • MALE: 5,705• TOTAL RESPONSES: 8,630 • ALL GRADUATES: 10,915





unemployment in this area, the governmentis conducting a review of the accreditationand skills content of IT and computingdegrees, as of summer 2015.3

Only 6.7% of IT and computing graduateswent on to further study with popularcourses being computer networking andgames design. Also, of those working in theinformation technology sector, by far thehighest proportion (27.6%) wereprogrammers and software developmentprofessionals. This is led by a growth inmobile technology and app development,and shows that computing skills are indemand.4

Both mathematics and IT graduates possessdesirable skills in the graduate labourmarket. While IT graduates are far morelikely to go into employment directly relatedto their degree discipline, maths graduatesare able to apply their skills more widely.Undertaking a degree in either of thesesubjects makes strategic sense in a rapidlydeveloping global labour market.

References1. High Fliers Research Ltd. (2015). The graduate market in 2015

www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2015/graduate_market/

GMReport15.pdf (Accessed August 2015) 2. The Department for Education

(2015). Get into teaching: Bursaries and funding.

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/bursaries-and-funding (Accessed

August 2015) 3. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Higher

Education Funding Council for England. (2015). Shadbolt review of

computer science degree accreditation and graduate employability.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/computer-science-degree-

accreditation-and-graduate-employability-shadbolt-review-terms-of-

reference (Accessed August 2015). This review is due to report in the

autumn of 2015 4. UK Commission for Employment and Skills. (2014). The

Labour Market Story: Skills For the Future. UKCES: Rotherham

16 MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING

professions in education could, in part, beattributed to the increased number ofopportunities with Teach First who havebecome the leading graduate recruiteramongst the Times Top 100 employers.1

Mathematics graduates were almost twiceas likely to go on to further study (23.3%)than the graduate cohort as a whole (12.1%).A third of mathematics graduatesundertaking further study were engaged ina Postgraduate Certificate in Education(PGCE). An influential factor is likely to bethe attractive and numerous bursariesavailable to mathematics graduatesundertaking the PGCE.2 Nonetheless, ofthose graduates who chose further study,the highest proportion undertook a Masters(34.1%), with courses ranging fromapplicable mathematics to medicalstatistics.

IT and ComputingThe vocational nature of IT and computingcourses goes some way to explain why74.6% of graduates from this subject wentdirectly into employment. These graduateswere also most likely to go into work directlyrelated to their degree, with 58.8% workingin the information technology sector. Thatbeing said, a relatively high proportion of ITand computing graduates were also workingas retail, catering, waiting and bar staff(10.2%). Furthermore, the unemploymentrate (at 11.4%) was far higher than theaverage of all subjects (6.3%). Havingrecognised the issue of graduate

The Destinations of Leavers from HigherEducation (DLHE) survey 2013/14 showedthat IT and computing graduates werehighly likely to be in employment sixmonths after graduation (74.6%) as were justover half (54.4%) of mathematics graduates.Mathematics graduates were far more likelyto pursue further study (23.3%) than thosefrom IT and computing (6.7%). However,both disciplines had a higherunemployment rate (7.7% for Mathematicsand 11.4% for IT and computing) whencompared with all graduates (6.3%).

MathematicsMathematics graduates enteringemployment primarily worked in business,HR and finance professions (40.4%). Theytended to take on roles that made use oftheir analytical and numeracy skills, such asfinance and investment advisers orchartered and certified accountants. Thenext most likely employment destinationswere in information technology andeducation. The high proportion ofmathematics graduates directly entering


RESPONDENTS) IN EMPLOYMENTIN

FURTHER STUDYWORKING

& STUDYING



MATHEMATICS

COMPUTERSCIENCE & IT

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

5,195 55.8% 23.3% 8.2% 7.7% 5.0%10,045 75.8% 6.7% 2.6% 11.4% 3.4%

267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY BARRIE GRAY

Chartered Institute for IT –www.bcs.org.uk E-skills UK –www.e-skills.com Institute of Analysts and Programmers – www.iap.org.uk Institute of Mathematics and its Applications –www.ima.org.uk Royal Statistical Society –www.rss.org.uk London Mathematical Society –www.lms.ac.uk

RESOURCES

Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/14


MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING 17

Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.6%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.3%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%

Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.4%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%


MATHEMATICS GRADUATES FROM 2014

Lecturer – a university

Maths teacher – TeachFirst

Tutor – mentoring centre

Statistician – a football club

Web analyst – internet marketing company

Electrical engineer – Northern Powergrid

Network security graduate – BT

IT consultant – Lloyds Banking Group

GNP analyst – an outsourcing company

Risk analyst – financial services company

Compliance officer – Investment bank

Apprentice account – an accountancy firm

Actor – a theatre company

Civil servant – Department for Education

Jewellery assistant – a pawnbrokers

Retail manager – Argos

Warehouse operative – TNT

Associate ministry trainee – a church

Volunteer – a charity








EXAMPLES OF 2014 MATHEMATICS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD Mathematics

MSc Applicable Mathematics

MSc Economics

PhD Climate and atmosphere science

PhD Algebraic number theory

PhD Electronic and electricalengineering

MSc Financial mathematics

PhD Probability and statistics

MPhil Statistical science

MSc Advanced mechanicalengineering

PGCE Mathematics






18 MATHEMATICS, IT AND COMPUTING

Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.0%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.4%Working part-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Information technology professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.8%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT GRADUATES FROM 2014

Deputy hotel manager – Whitbread Plc

Coding support coach – a secondary school

Automation engineer – an app company

Systems engineer – an internet engineer

Desktop roll out specialist – Capita

Software engineer – Amazon

Network engineer – Sony

Innovation coordinator – a hospital

Assistant management accountant – QVC

Executive officer – Passport Office

Insurance broker – Allianz Insurance Plc

Enablement services consultant – Dynatrace

Tax trainee – an accountant

Data analyst – BAE Systems

Infrastructure analyst – Network Rail

Marketing assistant – a retail store

3D Artist – Wireframe 3D

Producer – a media company

Safety officer – Transport for London

Personal assistant – MENCAP

Life guard – a sports centre

Taxi driver – a taxi firm








EXAMPLES OF 2014 COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSC Theoretical Physics

MSC Computer Networking

MA Computer Engineering

MSc Computer Science

MSc Information Systems

MA 3D Design for the VirtualEnvironment

MA Computer Games Design

MSc Geospatial Analysis

PGCE Computer Science

CCNA Microsoft Service

GCSE in English

TEFL




FEMALE: 1,225 • MALE: 6,525• TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 7,750


ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT 19

even though many electrical engineeringprofessions have been listed as shortageprofessions.2 Instead, one in five electricaland electronic engineering graduates (19.1%)were working in IT roles, as programmersand software developers and businessanalysts. Nearly one in five graduates whostudied architecture and building subjectsbecame architectural or town planningtechnicians.3

UnemploymentThe 2013/14 unemployment rates haddecreased across all engineering andbuilding disciplines compared to 2012/13.Architecture and building graduates andcivil engineering graduates had especiallystrong employment prospects withunemployment at 5.3% in both areas, wellbelow the average of 6.3%. This reflects theeconomic recovery generally and thesubsequent growth in building andconstruction, which looks to continue as theforecast for 2015-16 is particularly good forpublic and private housing investment andinfrastructure improvements in road, railand energy.4 This is welcome news forengineers, architects, surveyors, designersand builders.

SalariesEntry salaries varied from £15,000 for thosein non-technical or entry-level positions to

In 2013/14 a higher proportion of graduatesfrom engineering and building degrees wereknown to be in full-time UK employmentcompared to 2012/13 – despite greaternumbers of students graduating from thesedisciplines.1

EmploymentThe types of work undertaken by thesegraduates were likely to be directly relatedto their subject of study. A significantmajority of mechanical and civilengineering graduates in employment wereworking as engineering and buildingprofessionals (64.9% and 73.5% respectively).Other engineering graduates were likely tostart their working lives as engineeringprofessionals, production managers inconstruction or surveyors. However, just38.8% of the electrical engineering graduateswere retained in the engineering industry,




& STUDYING



ARCHITECTURE ANDBUILDING

CIVIL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL ANDELECTRONICENGINEERING

MECHANICALENGINEERING

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

5,830 79.7% 5.4% 6.2% 5.3% 3.5%

2,540 76.6% 8.7% 5.0% 5.3% 4.4%

2,410 73.6% 10.4% 3.6% 8.9% 3.5%

3,470 75.2% 10.3% 3.4% 7.0% 4.2%

267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5%. 6.3% 4.9%

ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY KIRSTY PALMER

up to £28,000 for mechanical engineers ongraduate schemes reflecting the premiumspaid by sector-leading companies.

Further studyFurther study rates in engineering andbuilding subjects (at 8.7%) were lower thanthe average for all subjects (12.1%) and haddropped since last year. The lower rate maybe attributable to the professionaldevelopment routes available, which do notnecessarily require further study.5 Inaddition, 30% of graduates had studied anintegrated Masters course, which gives themautomatic accreditation.

GenderThe gender divide in engineering graduatesis most notable in mechanical engineeringand electric and electronic engineering,where women made up 8% and 10% of thegraduate cohort respectively in 2013-14. Itwas less notable in architecture-relatedsubjects, where nearly 40% of all graduateswere women. Nevertheless, women shouldnot be deterred from applying toengineering subjects, with organisationssuch as Women in Engineering working toprovide support to women in technicalsubjects

References1. Data from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey

2013/14 2. UK Visas and Immigration, Home Office. (2015). Tier 2 shortage

occupation list, government-approved version: valid from 6 April 2015.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/

423800/shortage_occupation_list_april_2015.pdf (Accessed August 2015)

3. Information provided by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

on www.architecture.com 4. Experian. (2014). Construction Forecasts 2014

- 2016: A report by the Forecasting Committee for the Construction

Industries. www.building.co.uk/Journals/

2014/01/16/m/d/p/Construction_Forecasts_Winter_2013-14_eversion.pdf

(Accessed August 2015) 5. Engineering Council. (2014). UK-SPEC:UK

standard for Professional Engineering Competence. www.engc.org.uk/

engcdocuments/internet/Website/UK-SPEC%20third%20edition%20%281%

29.pdf (Accessed August 2015)

Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/14

Chartered Institute of Building –www.ciob.org.uk Institution of Engineering and Technology –www.theiet.org Institution of Civil Engineers –www.ice.org.uk Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers –www.ieee.org AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm Women in Engineering –www.womeninengineering.org.ukWomen in science, technology and engineering campaign –www.wisecampaign.org.uk

RESOURCES


Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%

Engineering and building professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.7%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.9%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING GRADUATES FROM 2014

Operational support manager – British Gas

Site manager – a construction company

Housing officer – a local authority

Senior housing officer – a local authority

Homelessness officer – a local authority

Planning officer – a local authority

Data analyst – a housing association

Property consultant – a housing association

Analyst – Bank of England

Architectural assistant – an architect’s firm

Architect’s assistant – an architect’s firm

Junior architect – an architect’s firm

Management trainee – Taylor Wimpey

Landscape architect – a specialist practice

Assistant architect – Laing O’Rourke

Marketing assistant – a marketing agency

Office assistant – a recycling company

Shop assistant – a pharmacy

Maintenance assistant – a ski resort








EXAMPLES OF 2014 ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPGDip Landscape Architecture

PGDip Architecture

MA Architecture

MSc Real estate



20 ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT




Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70.0%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4%Working overseas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.0%

Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.5%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


CIVIL ENGINEERING GRADUATES FROM 2014

Project manager – a local authority

Commercial graduate – Lloyds

English tutor – self-employed

Instrumentation engineer – GSK

Asset integrator – Thames Water

Structural engineer – Atkins

Civil engineer – Scottish Water

Payroll officer – An accountancy firm

Technician – Audio visual company

Waiting list coordinator – NHS

Sales assistant – Next

Sales assistant – Vodafone

Ski resort representative – a holiday company








EXAMPLES OF 2014 CIVIL ENGINEERING GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMEng Civil & StructuralEngineering

MSc Transport Planning andEngineering

MEng Engineering ProjectManagement

MSc Civil Engineering

MSc Structural & GeotechnicalEngineering

PhD Engineering




FEMALE: 295 • MALE: 1,725 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 2,020



Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.9%Further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.4%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Engineering and building professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.8%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Unknown occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING GRADUATES FROM 2014

3rd Officer – Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Officer – Army

Lecturer – further education college

Teaching assistant – a university

Test technician – a research company

Electrical engineer – Scottish Power

Test engineer – Network Rail

Systems engineer – air traffic control

Software engineer – online fashion retailer

IT systems engineer – Lloyds Banking Group

Technology graduate – Barclays

Science communicator – a science centre

Water technician – a utilities company

Marine officer – merchant navy

Bank cashier – RBS

Sales assistant – Sainsbury’s

Sales assistant – ASDA

Postman – Royal Mail








EXAMPLES OF 2014 ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMEng Electronic & ElectricalEngineering

MEng Electrical Engineering and

Renewable Energy Systems

PhD Solid state electronics

MSc Digital CommunicationsNetworks

MSc Maritime Management

MSc Sustainable EnergyTechnologies

MSc International Supply ChainManagement

MBA Business Management

Commercial pilots licence



22 ENGINEERING AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT




Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.9%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Working overseas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%

Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.9%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%


MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATES FROM 2014

Vice president – a students’ union

Operations manager – CBRE

Officer – RAF

Officer – Royal Navy

Secondary teacher –Teach First

Maths teacher – School Direct

Patent attorney – a firm

Church assistant – a church

Clinical engineer – NHS

Manufacturing engineer – Rolls-Royce

Electrification engineer – Tata Steel

Pipeline engineer – Shell

Graduate engineer – British Airways

Subsea engineer – Atkins

Field engineer – sand monitoring company

Systems specialist – a train operator

Insurance audit associate – Deloitte

Risk analyst – RBS

Project manager – BskyB

Financial analyst – Black Rock

Account manager – PR company

Vehicle salesman – a car dealership

Sales adviser – Vodafone

Croupier – a casino








EXAMPLES OF 2014 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMEng Oilfield CorrosionEngineering

MSc Advanced MechanicalEngineering

MSc Subsea Engineering

MSc Computer Aided Design

PhD Mechanical Engineering

PhD Fluid Dynamics

Chartered Engineeringqualification

IMechE Chartership







HOW CAN STUDENTS MAXIMISE THEIR TIME AT UNIVERSITY?

real life skills and expect students andgraduates to demonstrate a range oftransferable skills including communication;ability to work under pressure; presentation;numeracy; and organisational skills. Forstudents and graduates the challenge is this:if every student is developing these skillsand every graduate possesses them at thepoint of finishing their degree, how canstudents go the extra mile to ensure theystand out from the crowd? According to TheConfederation of British Industry it is thebroader skills and attributes such ascreativity, entrepreneurialism, leadership,motivation, international perspective andstrategic thinking which distinguish jobseekers from their peers.6 In order to developthese and gain the competitive edge,students will need to think tactically anddevelop a plan of action.

Students should make the most of thoseintra, extra and co-curricular activities whileat university, to stand out to recruiters. Thereis a vast range of support available atuniversity, in the form of careers advice, workexperience and employer fairs, designedspecifically for students to improve theiremployment prospects. Every step of theuniversity experience can be utilised. Therest of this article will run through theopportunities that universities can offer theirstudents.

Employability opportunities at universityUniversity offers the chance to take part in avariety of activities which run alongside thedegree to maximise student employability.

Skills awards - A skills award is one way ofrecognising the extra-curricular activitiesthat a student has been involved in duringtheir time at university. Skills awards oftenfollow a structured workshop format thatfocuses on the importance of recognising,developing and articulating the skills valuedby employers.

Enterprising activities - Participation ininternational competitions such as the CIMAGlobal Business Challenge or the UniversitiesBusiness Challenge provides the opportunityto develop commercial awareness andknowledge of the business world. Based onbusiness simulations, these challenges ofteninvolve working in teams giving students theopportunity to apply the theory from their

The motivation to attend university is rarelydriven by one single factor but is the result ofa variety of reasons: pursuing a dream;developing transferable skills; becoming aspecialist in a discipline; keeping careeroptions open and flexible; becoming moreindependent. The most common reasongiven for choosing to go to university is toimprove job prospects. But, how far highereducation fulfils this expectation is adebated subject.1 To maximise graduateemployment prospects, students must makethe most of the time, money and effort theyinvest in university.

The 2013/14 Destination of Leavers fromHigher Education survey revealed that 64.8%of graduates believed that their degreeprepared them well or very well foremployment.2 Graduates themselvesreported that a degree allowed them todevelop skills that helped them gainemployment, including: the ability tounderstand, manage and summariseinformation; the confidence to challengeothers; and the ability to think critically andmake sense of unfamiliar concepts.3 Despitethis, it is important to remember thatholding a degree is not a guarantee of a‘graduate’ job.4

Competing in today’s job market requiresplanning, participation and strategic workexperience. A good degree in the form of a 2:1or above is not the only thing needed tocompete in the labour market as more andmore students are graduating, they have toset themselves apart from their peers. As DrPaul Redmond, Director of Student Life at TheUniversity of Manchester, states: ‘the earlieryou start planning the better’.5

Employers are searching for something thatdifferentiates one candidate from anotherduring the recruitment process. They value

WRITTEN BY JANE HOWIE

degree. Institutions often offer commercialprojects as part of the formal curriculum orvia the careers service, providing studentswith the opportunity to explore differentcareer options and network with influentialindustry professionals.

Studying abroad -When recruiting newgraduates many global organisations seekevidence of the ability to workinternationally. Students can prepare for thisby participating in study abroad schemes inEurope, under the Erasmus scheme, orfurther afield. These courses last frombetween a semester and a year. The TimesHigher Education indicated a growing trendfor studying abroad, reporting the number ofUK students who go abroad as part of theirdegree programme has increased as much as39% in the space of a year.7 Studying abroadis a great way for students to developrelationships with people from differentbackgrounds and intercultural awareness,both of which are highly attractive skills in aglobal economy.

Accredited career modules - These allowstudents to enhance their overallemployability whilst gaining credit towardsa degree. Career modules tend to be highlypractical and are often assessed throughcourse work or group activities. They aredesigned to support students to develop self-awareness by identifying strengths andweaknesses and to understand motivationsand aspirations which will aid the careerplanning process. Career modules are offeredto prepare students for recruitmentprocesses by helping them to develop strongCVs and application forms, and to performeffectively in interview situations.

Networking - Careers fairs and employerpresentations provide the ideal opportunityfor students to: meet recruiters; find outmore about occupational sectors, industriesand roles; as well as search for workexperience and graduate roles. These eventscan sometimes feel a little overwhelming soit is vital that students prepare beforehandby researching the employers who will be inattendance, identifying who to talk to andplanning an introduction technique andquestions to ask. At employer events time islimited so the key to successful networkingis having a strategy in place. This couldinclude handing out CVs or swapping



1. Higgins, H. (2012), Why do some graduates believe university is a waste

of time? HECSU: Manchester, 12 -14 2. Sample size: 53,790 respondents.

Data comes from 2013/14 DLHE 3. Higgins, H (2012). op.cit 4. For a more in

depth discussion on ‘graduate jobs’ see Employability Review on page 4-5

of this publication 5. Redmond, P. (2015). First Year is the New Final Year.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/first-year-new-final-dr-paul-redmond (Accessed

July 2015) 6. CBI (2014) Gate Way to Growth: CBI/Pearson Education and

Skills Survey 2014. www.cbi.org.uk/media/2807987/gateway-to-growth.pdf

(Accessed July 2015) 7. Times Higher Education (2015). Number of Britons

studying abroad rises 40%. (Accessed July 2015) 8. High Fliers Research

Limited. (2015). The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2015.

www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2015/ survey_release/Release2015.pdf

(Accessed July 2015)

REFERENCES

business cards and following up meetingswith an email.

Work experience - Students regularly engagewith various forms of work experience suchas work shadowing and insight schemes inorder to help with their career decision-making process. When work shadowing,students will enter an organisation andspend time with an employee observingtheir daily routine in order to gain an insightinto their role and understand how aparticular organisation and sector works.Taster schemes are another valuable way togain an insider perspective of a particularindustry. These are more formal than workshadowing and usually involve businesschallenges or skills workshops. Tasterschemes can vary in length from a day to aweek and usually tie in with the universityholiday periods. Work shadowing is often anactivity which students pro-actively seekthrough networks, existing contacts andalumni. Taster schemes are offered by manyof the large graduate recruiters, often to

attract first-year students into their business,and will often have a competitive applicationprocess.8

Year in industry - The year in industry is asubstantial period of work experience in theregion of about 50 weeks. One key benefit ofa year in industry is having the opportunityto develop skills and understanding, and putacademic theory into practice. An alternativeto the year in industry is a shorter summerinternship scheme; these tend to last for 8 -12 weeks. Both types of formal workexperience opportunities give student anopportunity to develop practical skills,network in their sector and can helpstudents to decide which career areas theywish to pursue (or avoid) in the future.

Top employability tips for students:• Start early: Devote time to thinking aboutwhat you want to achieve by the end ofyour degree – don’t wait until a few weeksbefore graduation to start this process

• Get involved in the university experience:Seize opportunities to undertake work

experience, to build your network and totake part in societies.

• Make the most of your careers service:explore what’s going on around youincluding employer events and mentoringschemes, and utilise all the services onoffer including making an appointment tosee an advisor and practice assessmentcentre activities.

• Keep a record: Writing down the activitiesyou have engaged in with evidence of howyou have developed skills will beinvaluable when making applications andpreparing for interviews.

• Be flexible: Seek feedback from yourcareers service, academics and employers,and then act on it.

The reasons people go to university arebroader than getting a degree. For many,university fits strategically into a widercareer journey and offers opportunities todevelop employability skills. However,employability skills aren’t a given atuniversity, they are to be sought out andtaken advantage of. While employmentoutcomes are not the sole remit of highereducation, university is one of the best placesto get this direction at this stage in astudent’s life and career.


Erasmus + – ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus Prospects –www.prospects.ac.uk Rate My Placement –www.ratemyplacement.co.uk CIMA Global Business Challenge –www.cimaglobal.com The Universities Business Challenge – ubcworldwide.com The British Association of Sports and Exercises Sciences –www.bases.org.uk AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

Visit the departmental websites and institutional careers websites for further informationon a year in industry, institutional skills awards and accredited career modules.

RESOURCES


LawThe greatest number of graduates enteringlegal-related positions unsurprisingly camefrom law. Six months after graduation thesepositions were not as lawyers because apostgraduate qualification is required, butrather as paralegals, contracts managers,legal secretaries, legal researchers, CitizensAdvice Bureau advisers and police officers.

PoliticsBusiness-related positions were also popularwith politics graduates, who took up traineepositions in banking and accountancy; aswell as assistants to members of parliament,researchers for political consultancies andthink-tanks, campaign organisers andparliamentary assistants for pressuregroups.

PsychologyOf the 15.7% of psychology graduates thatwent on to further study, the majority (over60%) opted for masters in psychologyspecialisms or mental health. Those wishingto become full-time clinical psychologistsare encouraged to acquire experience in arelated field. This may account for the largenumber of psychology graduates in work(63.8%).

The Destinations of Leavers from HigherEducation Survey 2013-14 indicates that onein seven graduates studied social sciences.This group of graduates enjoyed higherlevels of employment than last year by anaverage of 2.4 percentage points across allthe subjects and also experienced lowerlevels of unemployment six months aftergraduation. Social scientists are valued fortheir ability to: understand complex issuesholistically; research, analyse and evaluatedata; communicate concisely and solveproblems.1

EconomicsRoles in business, human resources, finance,marketing and sales were popular with thissubject cluster, due to the need for the skillsthat social scientists possess. 64.0% ofemployed economics graduates were knownto be working in these fields.




& STUDYING



ECONOMICS

GEOGRAPHY

LAW

PSYCHOLOGY

SOCIOLOGY

POLITICS

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE SOCIAL SCIENCE GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

4,805 65.4% 13.3% 8.0% 7.7% 5.6%2,355 63.4% 17.8% 5.7% 5.8% 7.4%9,975 52.9% 26.3% 10.8% 5.4% 4.6%11,455 63.8% 15.7% 8.4% 6.2% 5.9%6,340 69.8% 11.4% 5.4% 7.6% 5.8%4,690 62.2% 17.8% 6.8% 7.3% 5.8%267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

SOCIAL SCIENCE OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY JANICE MONTGOMERY

Royal Economic Society –www.res.org.uk The Law Society of England and Wales –www.lawsociety.org.uk The Law Society of Scotland –www.lawscot.org.uk Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) –www.rgs.org British Sociological Association –www.britsoc.co.uk The British Psychological Society –www.bps.org.uk AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

GeographyGeography graduates enjoyed high levels ofemployment in 2013-14 with only 5.8%unemployed six months after graduation.This cohort was most likely to work inbusiness and marketing-related professions.Employment routes for geographers alsoinclude environment and sustainabilitycareers and in the oil and gas industries ortown planning.

Sociology75.2% of sociology graduates were inemployment six months after graduation.While 14.9% entered business-related andmarketing professions, 25.9% pursued jobsin the social, welfare, education andchildcare professions.

SalariesThe majority of social science graduateswere earning between £16,000 and £24,000per annum. The best paid were likely to beworking in the finance sector, whereaverage salaries with the top firms were inexcess of £36,000.2 Those working forcharities, in the care sector, or in supportiveroles in education were likely to earn less,although these roles could, in the long-run,lead to highly professional positions such asteachers, psychologists or environmentalconsultants.

REFERENCES1. ‘What Do Social Science Graduates Do?’ Campaign for Social Science,

2013, (Accessed August 2015) 2. High Fliers is forecasting an increase in

the number of graduate vacancies for 2015. High Fliers Research, (2015)

The Graduate Labour Market in 2015 www.highfliers.co.uk/download/

2015/graduate_market/GMReport15.pdf (Accessed August 2015).

RESOURCES

Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/1426 SOCIAL SCIENCE


SOCIAL SCIENCE 27

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.7%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%

Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.2%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.8%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

ECONOMICS GRADUATES FROM 2014









TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Accounting

MSc Economics

MSc Petroleum, Energy, Economics

and Finance

MSc Public Administration

MSc Computational Statistics

Professional accountancy exams





Trainee manager – Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Procurement manager – Fujitsu

Project manager – a seafood company

Logistics manager –Morrisons

Secondary teacher –Teach First

QHSE adviser – an oil company

Accountant – an accountancy firm

Personal tax adviser – accountancy firm

Compliance officer –HMRC

Financial analyst – Pfizer

Economist – Civil Service

Merging acquisitions officer – Goldman Sachs

Policy adviser –HM Treasury

Consultant – PwC

Trader –HSBC

Sales representative – Coca Cola

Software sales person – IBM

Editorial assistant – a national newspaper

Surveyor – a utility service company

Shipbroker – a shipbroking company

Professional squash player – self-employed

Research analyst – an energy company

Administrative assistant – NHS

Customer assistant –Waitrose

EXAMPLES OF 2014 ECONOMICS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.0%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.8%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7%Working overseas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%

Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.2%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.9%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

GEOGRAPHY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Farm manager – a private farm

Manager – OFGEM

Management trainee – Sainsbury’s

Teacher – Teach First

Research assistant – Oxfam

Waste services engineer – a local council

Estates surveyor – a local authority

Business consultant – IBM

Accountant – PWC

PR manager – a water company

Accounts executive – a PR agency

Harpist – self-employed

Professional cricketer – a cricket club

Rugby player – a rugby club

Racquets professional – a private club

Fitness trainer – self-employed

Pilot – RAF

Store location planner – Sainsbury’s

GIS coordinator – a media company

Receptionist – Audi

Customer assistant – Lidl

Waiting staff – Yo Sushi

Postman – Royal Mail








EXAMPLES OF 2014 GEOGRAPHY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD Atmospheric and

Environmental Science

MSc Sustainable Development

MSc China and Globalisation

MSc Ecology

MSc City Planning

MSc Rural Surveying


PGDE in Geography

HNC Theatre Performance

CIPS Diploma in Procurement



28 SOCIAL SCIENCE


FEMALE: 850 • MALE: 705 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 1,555


Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.1%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.3%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.8%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.9%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

LAW GRADUATES FROM 2014

Business manager – bioscience company

Commercial graduate – Fujitsu

Area manager – ALDI

Commercial graduate – Rolls-Royce

Paralegal – a law firm

In-court adviser – an action charity

Legal assistant – Crown Prosecution Service

Adviser – Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Trainee – European Commission

Auditor – financial services company

Chartered accountant – KPMG

Inspector of taxes – HMRC

Horse trainer – an equestrian stables

Intern – Classic FM

Army officer – Army

Dispatcher – British Gas

Police officer – Police Scotland

Customer adviser – RBS

Legal secretary – a law firm

HR administrator – Police Scotland

Call handler – AA

Ramp agent – airport

Events coordinator – an events company








EXAMPLES OF 2014 LAW GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD International Law

LLM Criminal Justice

LLM Oil and Gas Law

MSc Human Resource

Management

MSc Information Management

MSc International FashionMarketing

Legal Practice Certificate

Diploma in Professional LegalPractice

PGDE Primary

Professional Bar Training Course



SOCIAL SCIENCE 29




Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.9%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.8%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8%

Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.8%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.7%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9%Legal, social and welfare professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

POLITICS GRADUATES FROM 2014

Management trainee – L’Oreal

Supply chain specialist – Schlumberger

Management Trainee – local authority

Commercial officer – Thales

Commercial graduate – Ministry of Defence

Manager – Majestic Wines

Lecturer – further education college

Tefl teacher – a school

Music teacher – self employed

Charity officer – Cancer Research UK

Graduate trainee – Lloyds Bank

HR officer – National Citizen Service

Finance officer – ATOS

Compliance analyst – HSBC

Officer – Royal Navy

Communication officer – ANM

Marketing associate – oil company

Publishing assistant – a publishing houseAssistant – Member of Parliament

Researcher – a political consultancy

Housing officer – a local authority

Campaign organiser – a political party

Tennis coach – a private club

Administrator – an oil company

Administrator – NHS

Head chef – a cafe








EXAMPLES OF 2014 POLITICS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD Political Science

PhD Sociology

MSc Media and PR

MSc Human Resource

Management

MA Broadcast Journalism

MSc International and EuropeanPolitics

MSc Strategic Studies

PGDE in Sociology

PGCE Primary Education



30 SOCIAL SCIENCE




Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.9%Working part-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.6%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.7%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.9%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.4%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Manager – Hilton Hotels

Operations manager – Royal Mail

Assistant psychologist – NHS

Occupational therapist – NHS

Nursery assistant – a private nursery

Teaching assistant – a university

Support worker – an autism charity

Alzheimers adviser – an alzheimers charity

Apprentice engineer – Caterpillar

HR trainee – Nestle

Accountant – PwC

Market researcher – Glaxo Smith Kline

Events organiser – Thistle Hotels

Make-up artist – Harvey Nicholls

Digital media planner – a magazine

Outdoor activity leader – a school

Mental health research officer – NHS

Prison officer – HM Prison Service

Sales supervisor – Joules

Florist – Garden centre

Air steward – Emirates

Housekeeper – Travelodge








EXAMPLES OF 2014 PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD Social psychology

PhD Neuroscience

MSc Mental Health

MSc Organisational Psychology

MSc Human ResourceManagement

MSc Children and young people’smental health

MSc Project management

MSc Cyber psychology

PGCE in Sciences

PGCE in Maths



SOCIAL SCIENCE 31




Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.6%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.4%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Working overseas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.0%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

SOCIAL SCIENCE

SOCIOLOGY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Social performance consultant – Shell

Management trainee – Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Social sciences lecturer – FE college

PE Teacher – a private school

Domestic violence adviser –Womens’ Aid

Youth worker – HM Prison Service

Key worker – MIND

Youth worker – a church

HR associate – Caterpillar

Researcher – KPMG

HR coordinator – a university

PR intern – a PR company

Marketing assistant – a university

Advertising intern – an advertising company

Children’s author – self-employed

Researcher – ITV

Revenues officer – local authority

Police officer – Police Scotland

Probation officer – probation service

Check In assistant – an airport

Duty planner – British Transport Police

Barstaff –Wetherspoons

Sales manager – Laura Ashley

Tree surgeon – self-employed








EXAMPLES OF 2014 SOCIOLOGY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYPhD Sociology

PgDip Social Work

Msc Human Resource

Management

MRes Sociology

MSc Journalism

MA Criminology

MSc City Planning

MSc Digital Marketing

PGDE Primary Education

PGCE Sociology

BSc Midwifery



32 SOCIAL SCIENCE




DEVELOPING RESILIENCE FOR EMPLOYMENT

‘More than education, more than experience,more than training, a person’s level ofresilience will determine who succeeds andwho fails’.1 Dean Becker

How can students maximise their chancesof getting the job they want? How do jobseekers keep going after knockbacks andrejections? How can new employees makethemselves invaluable to an organisation?These important questions should beconsidered during education and beforegraduation, to give students time to developthe skills needed to succeed in their careers.

What employers look for Employers look for graduates who possessnot just academic skills but the soft skillsrequired to be adaptable in today’scompetitive and rapidly changing globallabour market.2 There are many such softskills that employers may take intoconsideration: an analytical mind-set, a can-do attitude and commercial awareness.3

This article will focus on the importance ofresilience in working life and suggest somepractical steps to develop this skill foremployment.

What is resilience?Resilience is defined in the discipline ofpsychology as the ability to bounce backfrom life’s setbacks stronger than before. Aresilient person copes well with ongoingchange and does not let failure overcomethem. Resiliency is something that you dorather than something you have and it is aquality that everyone can develop over timegiven the right circumstances and support.Caroline Dweck, Professor of Psychology atStanford University, explains the concept ofresiliency as having a ‘growth mindset’.4

Simply put, if a person sees failure as anopportunity to grow, then they have agrowth mind-set.

The advantages of resilienceIn employment, people with developedresiliency skills have an advantage overthose who feel helpless or victims ofchange.5 For example, if many people areapplying for the same jobs, a resilient persongives themselves a better chance of beinghired because they will persist withapplications despite knockbacks. A resilientperson will also be able make the most ofchallenging situations at work and provetheir value to their employer.

We all fail at times and that’s OKThere will be times in everyone’s careerwhen they are not successful in the jobsthey apply for. Job seekers can consider thefollowing when dealing with this:• Although it can feel like it, anunsuccessful job application is not afailure – it can be an opportunity to learnand develop for the next application.Often a rejection will lead to the path ofsomething better.

• Employers look for staff who can copewith adversity. A period of unemploymentcould be an opportunity for self-reflection,and can be utilised in later applications orinterviews to demonstrate how a jobseeker can overcome difficulties.

• Expectations should be realistic. Applyingfor one job and being disappointed with aslow response is not realistic. Applicantscan help themselves by taking things onestep at a time and remembering thatsuccess does not always come quickly.

• Job seekers can prepare themselves for thepossibility of failure by being flexible andalways having a back-up plan in place.

Testing resilienceStudents and graduates can assess theirresilience by considering how far they relateto the following statements:• I’m optimistic• In a crisis situation I calm myself andfocus on taking useful actions

• I see difficulties as temporary and I canovercome them

• I can tolerate high levels of uncertainty• I can express my feelings to others andask for help

Developing resilienceStudents and graduates can identify theirstrengths and weaknesses by undertakingan audit of personal resiliency.6 If someone

is able to recognise that they do not handlepressure well they can focus on the areas tobe improved. Engaging in experiences atuniversity such as work experience,voluntary experience, travel and studentsocieties can be a good way for students tostretch their current resilience.

Almost as important as developingresilience techniques is the ability toarticulate experience and skills to anemployer. It is helpful to keep a record ofexperiences that demonstrate the ability tobounce back and learn from experiencesthat can be drawn on in applications andinterview.

ConclusionThere are a wide range of factors that willimpact on someone’s working life, as well aseducation, experience and training and lesswell recognised factors such as resiliencecan be an equally important contributor tocareer success.

WRITTEN BY GARETH HILL


1. Quoted in Coutu, D (2002). How Resilience Works. Harvard Business

Review, 80:5, 46-56 2. Reed, J and Stolz, P (2013). Put your Mindset to

Work: The One Asset You Really Need to Win and Keep the Job You Love.

Penguin: London 3. For a wider discussion on employability skills see page

34 of this publication 4. Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology

of success. New York: Random House 5. Siebert, A (2005). The Resiliency

Advantage. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers 6. A more detailed

questionnaire on resiliency is available at www.psychometrictest.org.uk/

resilience-test/

REFERENCES


• Demonstrating self belief and confidencein performing tasks

• The ability to be resilient and dealpositively and proactively with setbacksand criticism

• Being dependable and reliable whenworking on a task

But it is not just a case of developing all 10employability skills, meeting increaseddemand for work experience, getting goodacademic results and then moving smoothlyinto a graduate job. There is no single perfectcandidate who has developed all 10employability skills. The best thing thatstudents and graduates can do to be strongcandidates is understand and work to theirstrengths. Whether someone is pragmaticand can make quick decisions when putunder pressure or if they have a morecontemplative outlook and prefer to taketheir time over big decisions, there is roomfor both types of people in mostorganisations and in the workforce overall.

‘The skills needs of tomorrow will be differentto those of today.’9

The story of the graduate jobs market is oneof constant change. New companies rise,using new technologies and creating newjobs, while other jobs change dramatically ordisappear. Specific training for a narrowrange of jobs may turn out to be less usefulif those jobs are subject to recession or thekind of changes that have affected otherindustries over the years. Universities seekto equip their students with the skills andattributes to be flexible and adapt to arapidly-changing jobs market. It isimportant to remember that over a workinglife – which, for current graduates aged 21 or22, could last more than 45 years – thislabour force are likely to experiencesignificant change first-hand, and shouldlook at preparing themselves to find theopportunities that arise and to thrive in thecareers of the future.

REFERENCES1. UKCES (2014), Employer Skills Survey 2013, www.gov.uk/government/

publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2013 (Accessed August 2015)

2. UKCES (2014), Op. cit 3. UKCES (2014) Op. cit 4. UKCES (2014), Op. cit 5.

For more information about how time at university can be maximised, see

page 24 - 25 of this publication 6. CBI (2015), Inspiring Growth,

http://news.cbi.org.uk/reports/education-and-skills-survey-2015/education-

and-skills-survey-2015/ (Accessed August 2015) 7. CBI (2015) Op. cit 8. See

‘Assessing for Employability’ for a breakdown of each skill at

www.northamptonilt.com/assessment-for-employability 9. CBI (2015) Op.

cit

A degree is largely recognised as offeringtechnical or subject-specific skills tostudents but there are also a broader rangeof ‘soft’ skills and attributes that can beacquired at university which will beessential when applying for jobs upongraduation.

These employability skills are key for jobseekers to evidence in applications. Someskills are recognised by recruiters as hard tofind and careers professionals areundertaking research to better understandthese skills. What are employability skillsand are they really the answer to landing agraduate job?

Research from the UK Commission forEmployment and Skills (UKCES), via theirEmployer Skills Survey 2013, found that mostemployers (83%) believed leavers fromhigher education were well or very wellprepared for work.1 However, UKCES alsoreported that these job seekers can still findit challenging to find employment as:

‘the main obstacle to (more) young peoplegetting new jobs is competition in the marketplace rather than perceptions that youngapplicants do not have the capability toperform in the job role.’2

With high competition for jobs, it wasreported that many employers favoured amore mature and more experiencedcandidate for the role. A lack of skills orexperience was the main factor thatprevented leavers from education (includinggraduates) from being offered a job.3 It isevident that employers recognise thatuniversity prepares students for work butstudents must also develop their skills andmake the most of work experienceopportunities to stand themselves in goodstead in a competitive labour market.

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTESWRITTEN BY JANICE MONTGOMERY AND CHARLIE BALL

The most common skills in short supplyaccording to recruiters were technical androle-specific, organisation and planning, oralcommunication, and problem solving.4

These are skills that students can develop atuniversity.5 Core skills such as literacy,numeracy and IT skills were also recognisedas lacking.

‘For the great majority of businesses, the attitudes and aptitudes of graduates for work are more important than the specific degree studied.’6

Beyond the technical or knowledge-dependent skills required for particularpositions (such as a languages, laboratoryexperience or clinical ability) employers lookfor a range of broad skills in their futureemployees. With government andrepresentative bodies calling for strongerlinks between educational institutions andemployers, research is being undertaken toclose the skills gap between what graduateshave and what employers want.7 Researchby the University of Northamptonhighlighted the following 10 keyemployability skills and attributes:

1. Communication2. Networking and business awareness 3. Organisation and action planning4. Analysis, problem solving and

investigation5. Teamwork6. Self-management and reflective

learning7. Influencing and persuading8. Opportunity recognition9. Leadership10. Positive work ethic8

These skills may seem obvious andsimplistic when taken at face value.However, given some consideration, theyreveal themselves to be multifaceted. Taking‘positive work ethic’ as an example – thisattribute requires subsidiary skills to betruly effective. It could be broken down intothe following:

• The ability to demonstrate enthusiasmand dedication for a task no matter howmundane

• The willingness to work above andbeyond what is expected

34 WHAT DO GRADUATES DO


the average of all graduates (6.3%).Nevertheless, graduates from thesedisciplines are popular with a wide range ofemployers, and studying an arts orhumanities degree closes off few professions.Indeed, arts and humanities graduates from2013/14 went into nearly 200 differentgraduate occupations in just under 500different industries last year.

DesignDesign graduates had the highest rate of full-time employment in this cluster (58.8%).Three quarters of all new entrants to thedesign profession (including commercialartists, set designers, and graphic designers)held a design degree last year.

Fine artThe most common job for fine art graduateswas artist (18.9%), and 27% were working asarts, design and media professionals.Teaching was another popular career choice,with over a third of those pursuing furtherstudy undertaking a qualification ineducation.

Performing artsPerforming arts graduates were most likely tobe employed as arts, design and mediaprofessionals (29.9%), with roles typicallyincluding musicians, actors, arts officers anddancers.

MediaThe most common roles for media studies

The 2013/14 Destination of Leavers fromHigher Education survey showed that artsand humanities graduates had highly varieddestinations, a range of average salariesbetween £13,600 and £28,000 and a higherthan average unemployment rate.1 Arts and media graduates were likely to gainemployment in their subject of study as arts,design and media professionals. Humanitiesgraduates were employed in more‘traditional’ graduate roles such as: business,HR and finance; marketing PR and sales; andclerical and secretarial roles.

Many graduates from this grouping take timeto establish themselves in their field, andtherefore were more likely to be working parttime (19.0%), or as retail and bar staff (20.0%)than the graduate cohort as a whole (12.1% ofwhich were working in such roles and 12.8%working part time).

The unemployment rate for arts andhumanities graduates (7.3%) was higher than




& STUDYING


DUE TO START WORK) OTHERFINE ARTS

DESIGN

PERFORMING ARTS

ENGLISH

HISTORY

MEDIA STUDIES

LANGUAGES

ALL SUBJECTS

ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY HELEN KEMPSTER

Arts Council England –www.artscouncil.org.uk After English –www.afterenglish.ac.uk Creative Skillset – creativeskillset.org The Historical Association –www.history.org.uk AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

graduates were in arts direction andproduction, in advertising, and as audio-visual and equipment operators broadcastingindustries, while PR, journalism and webdesign roles were also popular.

EnglishCommon jobs for English graduates includedmarketing (7.1%), teaching assistant roles(5.2%), writing and editing (3.5%) and humanresources (2.4%). An English degree givesstudents the ability to develop transferableskills.

LanguagesA high proportion of languages graduateswere working overseas (10.1% compared to1.9% of all graduates). They also had thehighest salary range within this cluster,between £15,000 and £28,000 and were likelyto be working in business, HR and finance ormarketing, PR and sales roles.

HistoryIn line with previous years (2011/12 and2012/13), history graduates were the mostlikely in this subject cluster to pursue furtherstudy (20% compared to 12.1% of allgraduates). Of those in employment, the mostcommon jobs included marketing, business,customer service and human resources.

Overall, opportunities for this cohort were alittle more concentrated in London than forother fields of study – 31.5% of arts andhumanities graduates in graduate-level workstarted their careers in London, compared to21.5% for graduates as a whole. Other popularlocations included Manchester, Surrey,Birmingham, Kent, Hampshire, Leeds, Oxford,Bristol and Glasgow.

RESOURCES

ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES 35Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/14

2,990 70.2% 10.0% 4.9% 7.9% 7.0%11,030 81.8% 3.7% 1.9% 7.8% 4.8%9,665 73.5% 10.9% 5.8% 5.7% 4.1%9,785 61.9% 18.1% 7.6% 6.6% 5.8%9,270 59.9% 20.0% 6.8% 6.6% 6.8%4,735 78.0% 5.3% 2.4% 9.7% 4.6%7,315 62.4% 18.0% 6.2% 6.4% 7.0%267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

REFERENCES1. Based on the destinations of UK-domiciled first degree graduates

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION


36 ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.2%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.2%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.0%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%

Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.4%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.5%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


FINE ARTS GRADUATES FROM 2014

Department manager – a fashion retailer

Trainee art teacher – a secondary school

Volunteer teacher – a community garden

New lending specialist – BarclaysMarketing assistant – a hospice

Merchandiser – self-employed

Account executive – a marketing agency

Art gallery consultant – an art gallery

Artist – an art gallery

Artist – self-employed

Artist in residence – a primary school

Tattoo artist – a tattoo studio

Admissions staff – an art school

Club leader – a primary school

Letting negotiator – a letting agency

Online quality assessor – Google

Carer – self-employed

Admin assistant – an energy company

Artist liaison – an online art retailer

Assistant baker – a bakery

Barista – a coffee shop

Bar staff – a hotel

Delivery driver – a pizza chain

Manual labourer – self-employed

Metal worker – self-employed








EXAMPLES OF 2014 FINE ARTS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Art history and curating

MA Curatorial studies

MA Fine art

MFA Fine art

MA Photography


Graduate Diploma in Law

Level 3 Diploma supportingteaching and learning in schools

Teaching English as a foreignlanguage


SURVEY RESPONSE: 76.4% • FEMALE: 2,200 • MALE: 790 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 2,990 • ALL GRADUATES: 3,915


FEMALE: 1,630 • MALE: 560 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK: 2,190


Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.8%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.9%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%

Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.1%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.6%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8%Information technology (IT) professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


DESIGN GRADUATES FROM 2014

Consultant – an insurance company

Graduate marketing officer – a university

Marketing and sales graduate – Royal Mint

Promotions manager – a magazine

Digital marketing assistant – a web designer

Conference supervisor – a university

Data collection officer – a university

Architectural assistant – an architect’s firm

Project manager – a school

3D Designer – an advertising company

Assistant technician – an arts centre

CAD technician – a secondary school

Cabinet making intern – a furniture maker

Consultant designer – a DIY chain

Curatorial assistant – a university

Carer – a healthcare company

Support assistant – a housing organisation

Receptionist – a veterinary practice

Bar staff – a bar

Confectioner and packer – a bakery

Sales assistant – a shoe retailer

Waiting staff – a coffee shop

Window dresser – a fashion retailer

Chalet staff – a ski resort

Dog groomer – a dog grooming salon








EXAMPLES OF 2014 DESIGN GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Ceramics

MA Design

MDes Design

PGCE Design & Technology


SURVEY RESPONSE: 78.7% • FEMALE: 7,405 • MALE: 3,625 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 11,030• ALL GRADUATES: 14,015



ARTS, CREATIVE ARTS AND HUMANITIES 37



Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.0%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.3%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1%Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Legal, social and welfare professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%


ENGLISH GRADUATES FROM 2014

Manager – a pub

Dispenser – a pharmacy

English teacher – a primary school

Youth worker – a church

Medical lab assistant – NHSCase handler – Bank of America

Corporate banking assistant – RBS

Marketing co-ordinator – a students’ union

Marketing officer – a restaurant chainCollections assistant – a university

Copy editor – a newspaper publisher

Fashion intern – a magazine

Library assistant – a library

Teaching assistant – a primary school

Administrator – a charity

Receptionist – a dance school

Bar staff – a bar and restaurant

Cook – a service station

Diamond and watch advisor – a jeweller

Retail assistant – a fashion retailer

Retail trainee manager – McDonalds

Sales assistant – a supermarket

Travel consultant – a travel agency

Waiting staff – a bar

Laundry assistant – a retirement home








EXAMPLES OF 2014 ENGLISH GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Creative Writing

MA English Language

MSc Marketing

MSc Psychology

PGCE Primary

PGCE Secondary English

PGCE Secondary Geography

Digital marketing course






Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.8%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.6%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.6%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2%Marketing,.PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.8%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%


HISTORY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Manager – a fashion retail store

Nurse – a care home

Support worker – NHS

English teacher – a language school

Teacher – a primary school

Analyst – JP Morgan

Associate accountant – PwC

Audit assistant – KPMG

Audit associate – Deloitte

Marketing and support assistant – a charity

Media and communications intern – NHS

Broadcast assistant – BBC

Delegate executive – a publisher

Civil servant – DWP

Production assistant – a signage company

Project assistant – a university

Teaching assistant – a school

Administrator – a recruitment agency

Receptionist – a hotel

Trainee PA – an accountancy firm

Bar Staff – a pub

Graduate trainee – a supermarket

Retail associate – a jeweller

Sales assistant – Asda

Cleaner – a recruitment agency








EXAMPLES OF 2014 HISTORY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Global Arts

MA History

MA Journalism

MSc Cultural Anthropology

MPhil Latin American Studies


Graduate diploma in Law







Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.4%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.3%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.5%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.7%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


MEDIA STUDIES GRADUATES FROM 2014

Manager – a food retailer

Learning consultant – a training provider

Resident tutor – a university

Volunteer and events coordinator – a charity

Claims advisor – an insurance company

Finance administrator – Morgan Stanley

Reconciliation officer – RBS

Communications assistant – NHS

Community manager – a marketing agency

Freelance sound engineer – self-employed

Broadcast assistant – a radio broadcaster

DJ – self-employed

Editor – self-employed

Editorial assistant – a publishing company

Producer – an internet radio station

Production secretary – BBC

Junior producer – self-employed

Photography intern – a charity

Teaching assistant – a primary school

Access to records administrator – NHS

PA – a renewable energy company

Receptionist – a doctor’s surgery

Bar staff – a pub

Customer advisor – a running retailer

Waiting staff – a restaurant

Courier – a courier firm

Maintenance – a farm








EXAMPLES OF 2014 MEDIA STUDIES GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Cultural Events Management

MA Ethnographic and

Documentary Film

MA Film

MA Journalism

MSc Marketing

MRes Media

MA Media, Culture and Society

MSc Media Management

MA Script Writing

GCSE Maths

Professional Acting Course

Teaching English as a ForeignLanguage







Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.8%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.0%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2%

Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.0%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Science professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Engineering and building professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%


LANGUAGES GRADUATES FROM 2014

Area manager – Aldi

Bar manager – a university

Delicatessen manager – a restaurant

Chalet manager – a ski resort

Teacher – a primary school

Welsh teacher – a secondary school

Surveyor – a property services company

Cyber security consultant – PwC

Sales support executive – a logistics company

European content editor – a news agency

Foreign rights assistant – a travel publisher

Freelance theatre technician – self-employed

Conference producer – a publishing company

Executive assistant – an audit company

Franchising executive – a car manufacturer

HR policy consultant – Civil Service

Accountant – Grant Thornton

Associate consultant – PwC

Administrator – NHS

Clerical assistant – a mail order business

Intern – a church

Bar staff – a live music venue








EXAMPLES OF 2014 LANGUAGES GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Acting

MA European studies

MA Magazine journalism

MA Management

MA Classical civilisation

MA Translation

MA Conference interpreting andtranslation studies

MSc Educational practice

MSc Enterprise

MSc Business

MSc Real estate management


SURVEY RESPONSE: 79.8% • FEMALE: 4,985• MALE: 2,330 • TOTAL RESPONSES: 7,315 • ALL GRADUATES: 9,160





Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.3%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%

Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.9%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.5%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8%Information technology professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


PERFORMING ARTS GRADUATES FROM 2014

Activities assistant – a care home

Health care advisor – Boots

Drama workshop facilitator – a university

Graduate support worker – a special school

Intervention tutor – a secondary school

Music teacher – a secondary school

Supply teacher – a local education authority

Pastoral manager – a secondary school

Support worker – a church

App development intern – a university

Personal banker – Barclays

Business sales and retention – BT

Lettings consultant – an estate agent

Dance teacher – a dance school

Vocalist – self-employed

Data co-ordinator – an independent school

School events assistant – a college

Receptionist – a doctor’s surgery

Assistant manager – a pub

Personal shopper – a fashion retailer

Retail assistant – Sainsbury’s

Sales assistant – a fashion retailer

Supervisor – a cafe

Bar staff – a pub

Call centre agent – a cosmetics company

Cruise consultant – a travel agent








EXAMPLES OF 2014 PERFORMING ARTS GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Arts Management

MA Creative Practice

MA Directing

MA Performing Arts

MA Social Work

PGCE Secondary music

Fitness instruction course

NVQ Business Administration







ADVERTISED NON-ADVERTISED

Speculative applicationsStudents and graduates can identify companiesthey would like to work for and write to themdirectly to ask for opportunities.

University careers servicesUsed by employers to advertise both graduatepositions and summer placements andinternships. Careers service websites usuallyhave job descriptions and links to thecompany’s website.

Careers fairsHeld on campus, careers fairs and employerpresentations are an opportunity for studentsto make contacts and develop their knowledgeof a company.

Graduate websitesThere are many websites dedicated toadvertising graduate jobs. The main websitesare Prospects and Targetjobs and they alsoinclude information and advice on finding jobsin different sectors.

NetworkingMeeting people at organisational or socialevents can be a great way for job seekers tointroduce themselves to prospective employersand begin moving in the right circles.

Specialist publicationsFrom companies such as Prospects andTargetjobs, publications give backgroundinformation, advice on how to find jobs andcase studies on sectors such as law, finance,accountancy, science and engineering.

Internships Provide students with invaluable workexperience and are often used by companies asan extended recruitment tool.

Recruitment agenciesSome companies don’t advertise their positionsbut pay recruitment professionals to find theright employee for them. You can sign up foragencies specialising in your sector.

National organisationsMembership organisations, which students areeligible to join, frequently include careerssections and vacancies e.g. The Royal Societyfor Chemistry or the Royal Geographic Society.

Social mediaFollowing organisations on Twitter enables jobseekers to keep up to date with vacancies; somecompanies have a specialist careers account.LinkedIn also has a jobs search.

HOW TO FIND GRADUATE JOBSWRITTEN BY JANICE MONTGOMERY

When students and graduates start looking for jobs they are encouraged to use a wide range of sources to find advertised and non-advertised vacancies. Work experience such as placements and internships are considered invaluable and may be sourced in similar ways.

The 2013/14 DLHE survey shows that the most common ways that employed graduates found their first jobs were: through recruitmentagencies (18.8%); personal contacts and networks (18.7%) and employers’ own websites (17.7%).

Ideally, students should start their job searching early so that they can develop the skills and experience required whilst at university.Sourcing vacancies is just the start of the application process. It is essential that students and graduates do all they can to develop theirknowledge of an organisations and its requirements. Job seekers should also remember that university careers services provide help andsupport to students to construct effective CVs, application forms and covering letters.



RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION METHODS

Preparation is keyThe key to success with any recruitmentmethod is preparation. Applicants can putthemselves in the best position by beingfamiliar with the role and organisation andby finding out about the selection processbefore the day itself. Graduates should not beafraid to ask questions in advance. Universitycareers services will offer advice and supportsuch as practice interviews and practiceassessment centres.

Selection methods Application form or CVHow does it work? - Most graduaterecruitment processes start with anapplication form or CV. These are used as a screening process to ensure that thecandidate meets the basic requirements for the job. How to succeed - Applicants must show how they meet basic requirements for thejob. Evidence the skills that are essential inthe person specification and make sure you proofread for spelling mistakes.

Panel interviewsHow does it work? - This is the most common recruitment method. There willusually be at least two or three people on the panel. Interviews can range from adiscussion of the application to competency-based questions. How to succeed - Applicants should prepareexamples of relevant skills and competenciesand practise the ‘STAR’ method of answeringquestions. It is important to engage with thepanel and remember to make eye contact.

Telephone interviewsHow does it work? - Often used as an initialscreening phase for an application. Theinterviewers will be looking for an interest in the company and will expect the applicant to be enthusiastic, polite andprepared. How to succeed - There will be somepracticalities to consider here: finding a quiet place to take the call is key.

Aptitu

What do graduates do? contains a wealth ofinformation about the employmentdestinations of graduates. But how dograduates get into these roles? At the heartof any recruitment and selection process areselection criteria – the factors against whichthe employer will assess the candidate. Oftenthe criteria are set out formally in a personspecification, but if not, research into the joband organisation is essential to uncoverwhat the employer will be looking for. Thesuccessful applicant will be able to evidencehow they meet the criteria at differentstages of the selection process.

Popular recruitment methodsThere is as much variety in recruitmentmethods as there is in graduate employers.The Chartered Institute for PersonnelDevelopment reports that the most common method used to select applicantswas an interview, with three quarters ofthose surveyed using this method.1 This wasfollowed by tests for specific skills, generalability or numeracy and literacy (used byaround half of respondents). Assessmentcentres, in which a candidate undertakes anumber of selection tasks, were used by overa third of respondents. An important thing tonote is that small- to medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) are less likely to use‘sophisticated systems’ to recruit and mayrely solely on a face-to-face interview.

WRITTEN BY HELEN KEMPSTER

Aptitude testsHow does it work? - A structured evaluationof skills relevant to the role, they will ofteninvolve assessing reasoning, numeracy orliteracy skills. How to succeed - Practice makes perfect -applicants can make use of the many freeaptitude tests online and through universitycareers services. Tests are deliberatelydesigned to put candidates under timepressure. Applicants may not actually beexpected to finish the test but they shouldtry to work quickly and accurately.

Personality questionnairesHow does it work? - The questions aredesigned to assess personality traits, such asmotivation and working style. How to succeed - They are not tests andthere are no right or wrong answers.

Group exercisesHow does it work? - These could range froma practical task or problem-solving activity,to a debate or discussion. How to succeed - The assessors are oftenlooking for teamwork, problem-solvingability and a logical, analytical approach tothe task. Balance is key here – applicantsshouldn’t dominate the group or come across as too reticent.

PresentationsHow does it work? - A presentation isdesigned to assess communication skills aswell as how confident the applicant is atgetting their point across. How to succeed - If the applicant is given atopic to prepare in advance, practice isimportant to build confidence and ensurethe time limit is kept to. Applicants shouldalso be prepared for questions.

Case studiesHow does it work? - This type of task isparticularly common in selection forbusiness consulting firms. Applicants will bepresented with a case study, and asked torecommend which course of action to take,or find a solution to a problem. How to succeed - Graduates will be assessedon their ability to think logically andanalytically. It is helpful to ‘think out loud’ sothat the interviewer can understand thoughtprocesses.


www.practiceaptitudetests.com - opportunities to practise tests in numerical, verbal and diagrammatic reasoning, as well as situational judgment.www.prospects.ac.uk - essential information including writing a CV and cover letter and preparing for an interview can be found in the ‘Applying for jobs’ section.

RESOURCES

REFERENCES1. Based on a range of employers recruiting at all levels. Chartered Institute

for Personnel Development. (2015). Resourcing and Talent Planning 2015.

www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/resourcing-talent-planning_2015.pdf (Accessed

August 2015)


certified accountants (21.6%).2 Othercommon occupations included: financialand accounting technicians (9.2%); andfinance and investment analysts andadvisers (9.1%).

Business and managementOf the 78.7% of business and managementgraduates in employment in the UK, 23.7%were working as business, HR and financeprofessionals and a further 20.0% were inmarketing, PR and sales professions.Prevalent occupations included: marketingassociate professionals (7.8%); sales andretail assistants (6.9%); and humanresources and industrial relations officers(5.1%).

There was an increase in the proportion ofbusiness graduates undertaking furtherstudy (5.8% in 2012/13 to 6.0% in 2013/14) andthe majority were studying a Masterscourse. In fact, a larger proportion ofgraduates were studying a Masters degreecompared to last year (65.2% compared63.0%) and this does not follow the fallingtrend of UK domiciled people studying on aMasters course at a UK university.3

Hospitality, leisure, tourism and transportWell above the average employment rate,80.3% of graduates from hospitality, leisure,tourism and transport degrees were in UKemployment. These graduates were mostlikely to enter into roles as marketing, PRand sales professionals (25.2%). The most

The 2013/14 Destination of Leavers fromHigher Education survey (DLHE) indicatesthat 38,000 or 11.2% of all UK domiciled first-degree graduates studied business andadministrative subjects. This is consistentwith figures from previous years: 11.3% in2012/3 and 11.4% in 2011/12. The employmentrates across all business-related subjectswere above the average for all graduates andthe average salaries ranged between £16,500and £28,000.1

Finance and accountancyDue to the nature of accountancy andfinance related occupations, which requiregraduates to undertake further professionalqualifications, 12.9% of graduates wereworking and studying at the same time. Thiswas more than double the average of allgraduates (5.5%).

78.9% of finance and accountancy graduateswere in employment in the UK with over afifth of those entering into jobs as chartered

BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES OVERVIEWWRITTEN BY JANE HOWIE

common occupations for this groupingincluded: conference and exhibitionmanagers and organisers (14.0%); followedby sales and retail assistants (7.5%); andmarketing associate professionals (5.6%).

Meanwhile, 3.5% were engaged in furtherstudy, far lower than the national average of12.1%. Of those, 42.6% were undertaking aMasters degree and a further 19.9% werestudying for a postgraduate qualification ineducation.

MarketingMarketing graduates were the most likely tobe in UK employment (82.7%) and leastlikely to be engaged in further study (3.1%) inthis grouping. With 69.3% working full timein the UK, marketing graduates were morelikely to be in full-time work than graduatesfrom all subjects (56.5%), and the percentageof marketing graduates working full-time inthe UK had increased by 3.9 percentagepoints (from 65.4% in 2011/12 to 69.3% in2012/13) as the UK marketing industryexpanded.

Marketing graduates were likely to be inroles related directly to their degreediscipline with nearly half (49.5%) workingas marketing, PR and sales professionals. Thetop professional and managerial roles formarketing graduates were as marketingassociate professionals (31.2%) followed bysales and retail assistants (8.7%) and buyersand procurement officers (4.8%).




& STUDYING



FINANCE ANDACCOUNTANCY

BUSINESS ANDMANAGEMENT

HOSPITALITY,LEISURE, TOURISMAND TRANSPORT

MARKETING

ALL SUBJECTS

TABLE 1. DESTINATIONS OF FIRST DEGREE BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES GRADUATES FROM 2013/14, SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION

5,860 67.5% 6.9% 12.9% 8.6% 4.2%

15,790 75.9% 6.0% 4.9% 7.6% 5.5%

4,235 81.0% 3.5% 2.6% 6.4% 6.5%

3,295 82.3% 3.1% 2.3% 6.1% 6.2%267,735 71.2% 12.1% 5.5% 6.3% 4.9%

Data taken from HESA’s Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey 2013/14 BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES 45

REFERENCES1. The average salaries reported in the DLHE survey are based on graduates

who qualified from a full-time first degree and were working in full-time

employment in the UK 2. In employment includes graduates who were

working full-time, part time and working and studying 3. According to

HESA’s Students in Higher Education data there was a fall in the numbers

of UK domiciled people studying a Masters course in the UK – 161,675 in

2013/14 and 156,190 in 2012/13

Directions –www.directions.org.uk/careers Chartered Institute of Management Consultants –www.cimcglobal.org Institute of Hospitality –www.instituteofhospitality.org Chartered Institute of Marketing –www.cim.co.uk AGCAS Options series –www.prospects.ac.uk/options_with_your_subject.htm

RESOURCES


Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.6%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.9%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%

Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.3%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6%Managers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0%Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Engineering and building professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%


FINANCE AND ACCOUNTANCY GRADUATES FROM 2014

Investment manager – a start-up

Senior research officer – a university

Lecturer – a university

Tax adviser – Deloitte

Graduate analyst – a private bank

Trainee associate – PwC

Graduate finance analyst – Rolls-Royce

Audit associate – Grant Thornton

Tax consultant – HMRC

Trainee valuer – a high street store

Sales advisor – a retail store

Bar staff – a pub

Front of house ambassador – a theatre








EXAMPLES OF 2014 FINANCE AND ACCOUNTANCY GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMA Accounting and Finance

PGCert Management

MBA

Trainee Teacher, Teach First

PGCE Primary School Teachingwith QTS

Professional Qualifications, ACA,ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW



46 BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES




Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.8%Working part-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.0%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5%Working and studying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%

Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.7%Marketing, PR and sales professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6%Education professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%Legal, social and welfare professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.9%Health professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%


BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATES FROM 2014

Marketing manager – a hotel chain

Erasmus assistant – a university

Ministry apprentice – a church organisation

Care manager – a healthcare organisation

Project manager – Network Rail

Finance manager – a care home

Company director – self-employed

Graduate management trainee – Aldi

Graduate recruiter – Goldman Sachs

Aviation operator – an aviation centre

Administrator – a support organisation

Admin assistant – a university

Catering assistant – a hotel

Ride operator – a leisure park

Bus driver – national transport company

Make-up artist – a high street store





Professional qualifications 4.7%



EXAMPLES OF 2014 BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYMSc Oil and Gas OperationsManagement

MA Marketing and PublicRelations

MBA

MSc Organisational Behaviour

PGCE Secondary Mathematics

Business Stream Pathway


SURVEY RESPONSE: 76.3% • FEMALE: 7,155 • MALE: 8,635• TOTAL RESPONSES: 15,790 • ALL GRADUATES: 20,710

BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES 47


FEMALE: 5,705 • MALE: 6,710 • TOTAL IN EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK 12,420



Venue manager – a conference venue

Outdoor tutor – an education authority

Personal banker – RBS

Events duty manager – a national museum

Cabin crew – an airline

Travel advisor – a holiday company

Yield executive – British Airways

Adventure training instructor – Army

Bar staff – a pub

Door supervisor – a security organisation

Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5%Other occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.9%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0%Business, HR and finance professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3%Childcare, health and education occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0%Arts, design and media professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%

Working full-time in the UK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64.1%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.7%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5%Unemployed, including those due to start work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4%In further study, training or research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6%


HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, TOURISM AND TRANSPORT GRADUATES FROM 2014

EXAMPLES OF 2014 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, TOURISM AND TRANSPORT GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)











TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDYBA (Hons) Sports Development

MA Conservation Management

PGCE Education and Training


48 BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES


Graduate analyst – Barclays

Commercial manager – Marks and Spencer

Marketing executive – a media company

PR and marketing executive – a hotel chain

Events assistant – a professional body

Customer service advocate – Bank of America

Soldier – the Army

Night shift operator – a sawmills business

Cashier –William Hill

Marketing assistant – a charity

Communications assistant – a charity

Marketing, PR and sales professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.5%Retail, catering, waiting and bar staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.8%Business, HR and finance professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9%Clerical, secretarial and numerical clerk occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9%Other occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3%Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4%Arts, design and media professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2%Information technology (IT) professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5%Other professionals, associate professionals and technicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4%Childcare, health and education occupations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Legal, social and welfare professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6%Education professionals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3%Unknown occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Engineering and building professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2%Health professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1%Science professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0%









Working full-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.3%Working part-time in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1%Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2%Unemployed, including those due to start work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%In further study, training or research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1%Working and studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3%Working overseas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%



MARKETING GRADUATES FROM 2014

EXAMPLES OF 2014 MARKETING GRADUATE JOB TITLES AND EMPLOYERS (SIX MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION)


TYPE OF COURSE FOR THOSE IN FURTHER STUDY


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